Contributions to Social Ontology

Recent years have seen a dramatic re-emergence of interest in ontology. From philosophy and social sciences to artificial intelligence and computer science, ontology is gaining interdisciplinary influence as a popular tool for applied research. Contributions to Social Ontology focuses specifically on these developments within the social sciences. The contributions reveal that this revived interest in social ontology involves far more than an unquestioning acceptance or application of the concepts and methods of academic philosophers. Instead as ontology permeates so many new areas, social ontology itself is evolving in new and fascinating ways. This book engages with these new developments, pushing it forward with cutting-edge new material from leading authors in this area, from Roy Bhaskar to Margaret Archer. It also explicitly analyzes the relationship between the new ontological projects and the more traditional approaches.

Chapter 1Introduction - Ontology, Philosophy and the Social Sciences Clive Lawson, John Latsis, Nuno Martins PART I - Ontology and Social TheoryChapter 2The ontological status of Subjectivity Margaret Archer Chapter 3Technology, Technological Determinism and the Transformational Model of Technical Activity Clive Lawson Chapter 4Ontological Theorising and the assumptions issue in economics Stephen Pratten Chapter 5Wittgenstein and the Ontology of the Social: Some Kripkean Reflections on Bourdieu's 'Theory of Practice' Lorenzo Bernasconi-Kohn Chapter 6Deducing Natural Necessity from Purposive Activity: The Scientific realist logic of Habermas's theory of Communicative Action and Luhmann's Systems Theory Margaret Moussa Chapter 7Underlabouring for Ethics: Lukàcs's Critical Ontology Màrio Duayer and Joao Medeiros Part II - Ontology and PhilosophyChapter 8Quine and the Ontological Turn in Economics John Latsis Chapter 9Tracking Down the Transcendental Argument and the Synthetic a priori - chasing fairies or Serious Ontological Business David Tyfield Chapter 10Re-examining Bhaskar's Three Ontological Domains: the Lessons from Emergence Dave Elder-Vass Chapter 11Real, Invented or Applied? Some Reflections on Scientific Objectivity and Social Ontology Eleonora Montuschi Chapter 12Theorising Ontology Roy Bhaskar PART III - Ontology and Applied ResearchChapter 13Freedom, Possibility and Ontology - Rethinking the Problem of 'Competitive Ascent' in the Caribbean. Patricia Northover and Michaeline Crichlow Chapter 14On the Ontology of International Norm Diffusion Lynn Savery Chapter 15Realist Social Theorising and the Emergence of State Educational Systems Tone Skinningsrud Chapter 16The Educational Limits of Critical Realism? Emancipation and Rational Agency in the Compulsory Years of Schooling Brad Shipway Chapter 17Economics and Autism: Why the Drive Towards Closure? John Lawson Chapter 18Applying Critical Realism: Re-conceptualising the Emergent Early Music Performer Labour Market Nicholas Wilson