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A New Social Ontology of GovernmentThe Ontology of Composition

A New Social Ontology of Government: The Ontology of Composition [This chapter addresses ontologicalontology questions concerning the composition of social structuressocial structures and entities, and their relationships to the actors who compose them. Our theories and ordinary language refer to governmental structures, institutionsinstitutions, and organizationsorganizations at a range of levelscausal powers: actors and officials, agencies, knowledge systems, social networks, and offices and bureaus. The philosophical position of ontological individualism maintains that all social phenomena are ultimately constituted by the social actors who make them up. However, the chapter also recognizes that we need to recognize the reality of higher-level social entities—institutionsinstitutions, normativenormative system systems, social identities, powerpower relations, and social networkssocial networks. The chapter argues that it is legitimate to postulate the existence of social entities; but it argues that social entities, forces, and conditions must have microfoundations at the level of the social actors who compose them. The chapter discusses the idea of a social actor as a socially constituted and socially situated individual with mental frameworks that guide his or her choices of action.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A New Social Ontology of GovernmentThe Ontology of Composition

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Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
ISBN
978-3-030-48922-9
Pages
35 –52
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-48923-6_3
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[This chapter addresses ontologicalontology questions concerning the composition of social structuressocial structures and entities, and their relationships to the actors who compose them. Our theories and ordinary language refer to governmental structures, institutionsinstitutions, and organizationsorganizations at a range of levelscausal powers: actors and officials, agencies, knowledge systems, social networks, and offices and bureaus. The philosophical position of ontological individualism maintains that all social phenomena are ultimately constituted by the social actors who make them up. However, the chapter also recognizes that we need to recognize the reality of higher-level social entities—institutionsinstitutions, normativenormative system systems, social identities, powerpower relations, and social networkssocial networks. The chapter argues that it is legitimate to postulate the existence of social entities; but it argues that social entities, forces, and conditions must have microfoundations at the level of the social actors who compose them. The chapter discusses the idea of a social actor as a socially constituted and socially situated individual with mental frameworks that guide his or her choices of action.]

Published: Jul 8, 2020

Keywords: Agent-based models; Emergence; Generativism; Heterogeneity; Microfoundations; Ontological individualism

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