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The Construction of Social Reality (Paperback)

by John R Searle (Author) "This book is about a problem that has puzzled me for a long time: there are portions of the real world, objective facts in the..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Product Description

This short treatise looks at how we construct a social reality from our sense impressions; at how, for example, we construct a "five-pound note" with all that implies in terms of value and social meaning, from the printed piece of paper we see and touch.


About the Author

John Searle is the Slusser Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded the Jean Nicod Prize in 2002 and the National Humanities Medal in 2004.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
This book is about a problem that has puzzled me for a long time: there are portions of the real world, objective facts in the world, that are only facts by human agreement. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Can I have it both ways? An external reality in a world of social constructions., 28 Jun 2007
One of the most trying issues when giving a conference paper, teaching or just in general chit-chat arises when the notion of an `external reality', which exists independent of my own thought processes, is brought up. Increasingly Postmodernism and Post-structuralism have taken hold within the academic community, to the point that whenever an assertion is made it is immediately being deconstructed by Derridians in Hyper drive seeking to assert their will to power.

If this sounds like a familiar picture, then you need to get this book. Searle develops a consistent and insightful argument based around the questions of how ontologically objective 'brute facts' in the external would relate to both the social and institutional world- whether that is in the form of baseball, money, the presidency or war. He does so by falling back on the conception of the 'Background' and its relation to intentionality, which he explains with rare clarity and depth. Thus the book works as a basic introduction to social constructivism in the social sciences, but in a manner that is detached from the various disciplines and in the form of well considered and deeply analytical philosophy. As such this book is suitable for any aspiring constructivist and for those who require bedrock for deep analytical arguments.

It should however be stipulated that Searle does not take to Postmodernism and Post-structuralism kindly, and if there is one failure in the book it is that he does tend to straw man Derrida, but given the history of their antagonistic debate this should not be a surprise. Enjoy the read, it is worth it.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, 26 Aug 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Construction Social Reality _p (Paperback)
Searle demonstrates once again why he is one of our best thinkers. Confronting head-on the postmodern claim that reality and truth are social constructs, Searle demolishes (deconstructs?) this claim and illustrates just how foolish and unexamined it is. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the ideas that have taken the humanities and higher education to a new nadir--which should be everyone. This is a great book.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A clear-headed rebutal of postmodern nihilism, 15 Jan 2008
Searle's concise and accessable book cuts through postmodern claims that all reality is socially constructed to distinguish between things for which this is true (social or institutional facts which are true because they are believed in - such as marriage, or law or money) and those for which this is not (brute facts, independant of human beings, such as the existence of Everest).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding social ontology
Searle has produced a rigorous demonstration that social reality is both objective AND dependent on individual subjectivity. Read more
Published 10 months ago by D. Pavett

4.0 out of 5 stars Succinct, but mind stretching.
John Searle has produced a stimulating book in which he discusses weighty philosophical issues grounded in 'the taken for granted' everyday life that human beings construct for... Read more
Published on 28 April 2000 by garthtucker@cableinet.co.uk

2.0 out of 5 stars Seriously in-depth critical analysis of social reality
John Searle presents a critical analysis of the structure of social reality. In his theory of the mind he illustrates "how it all hangs together". Read more
Published on 21 Jan 1999

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