The Reality of the Social World (eBook)

This book offers a collection of contributions on medieval, early modern, and contemporary perspectives on social ontology. 

Since the 1990s, social ontology has emerged as a vibrant research area in contemporary analytical philosophy. Questions concerning the nature and properties of social groups, institutions, facts, and objects like money and marriage, have been thoroughly discussed. However, the historical perspective has been largely neglected. One of the central aims of this volume is to show that relevant views on social ontology can be found in medieval and early modern philosophy (ca. 1200-1700 C.E.), when, for example, the ontological status of money, law, and the sacraments was hotly debated. We see, furthermore, diverging positions between Aristotelian-inspired authors, who resort to a more naturalistic view of the emergence of the social realm, and authors like Olivi and Ockham, who emphasize the role of human free will and contractualist agreements. 

This book is the very first to address historical and contemporary social ontologies. Both historians of philosophy and philosophers will benefit from this juxtaposition, which fosters a better understanding of historical positions and approaches by using today's conceptual and analytical tools, and allows the contemporary debate to gain new perspectives by confronting its own medieval and early modern history.

Jenny Pelletier wrote her doctoral dissertation on William of Ockham's conception of metaphysics. Her past and present research interests include medieval metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology, theory of science, and political philosophy, particularly in Ockham and his immediate circle. She is currently interested in the metaphysical foundation of social and political concepts in medieval philosophy and theology.

Christian Rode wrote his doctoral dissertation on the reception of William of Ockham's philosophy and logic in Italy in the 14th century. His Habilitation focused on inner experience and theories of consciousness and self-cognition in the Middle Ages and early modernity. His research interests include theories of (self-)cognition, consciousness, ontology, social ontology and political philosophy, mostly in the Middle Ages.