The Philosophy of Social Ontology
Social ontology is the philosophical study of the nature and structure of social reality. It explores what kinds of things exist within the social world—such as governments, laws, identities, institutions, and norms—and how they come into being, persist, and influence human life. While traditional ontology concerns itself with being in the abstract, social ontology asks what it means for something to exist socially.
What Is “Social” About Social Ontology?
Social ontology examines entities that do not exist in a purely physical or mental realm but rely on collective human participation and recognition. For example:
A nation is not just a landmass but a shared idea.
Money is only valuable because we collectively agree that it is.
A university is more than buildings—it is a network of roles, norms, and functions.
These entities depend on collective intentionality—the shared beliefs, practices, and agreements that allow social structures to exist.
Key Questions in Social Ontology
What are social entities? Are things like corporations, borders, or laws real? If so, how are they different from physical objects or mental states?
How do institutions and roles form? What makes someone a president, a parent, or a citizen? Are these identities constructed or discovered?
What is collective agency? Can groups act as agents? Is a protest or parliament a single actor, or just many individuals?
What grounds social norms and facts? Why do we follow traffic laws, religious rituals, or social etiquette? What gives them their authority?
Influential Thinkers and Theories
John Searle: Argued that many social facts (like property, marriage, or currency) are institutional facts, created through collective acceptance and maintained by language.
Margaret Gilbert: Developed theories around joint commitment, where group actions depend on mutual understanding and shared obligations.
Émile Durkheim: Considered society to have a kind of collective consciousness that shapes individual behavior.
Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre: Examined how being-with-others (Mitsein) forms part of our existential structure.
Why It Matters
Social ontology informs:
Politics: What legitimizes authority?
Economics: What constitutes value and exchange?
Law: What gives rules their normative power?
Identity: How do race, gender, and class emerge and operate in social systems?
Understanding the ontological status of social constructs helps us critique, reform, or sustain the structures that govern human life. It reveals that society isn’t just something we live in—it’s something we continually create through recognition, language, and shared action.