A Social Ontology

by David Weissman

A Social Ontology represents an effort to formulate a system of philosophy that is compatible with the nature of the world as described by empirical science. Arguing against the atomism of mainstream Western liberal thought, Weissman argues that all reality is "social" - that is, each particular (organism, individual, etc.) is immersed in high-order systems (in case of humans, this means kin-groups, friendships, political systems etc.). After exploring how the idea of the social ontology works in the case of human experience, Weissman goes on to explore the way this theory can be applied in a range of areas, such as ideas about free speech and ecology.

Genres: Philosophy

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 11, 2000

Reviews

[Paul Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a challenging book about societies and their challenges. Long story short: We are not simply an aggregate of free individuals. We are systems like any other, and we assemble as systems (often nested within one each other’s systems) therefore we must either mitigate our freedoms by acknowledging our systems as reciprocal necessities rather than clinging to the fantasy of individual freedoms. In doing so, we acknowledge reality as it is and we stop thinking we can behave in an “either-or” (my way or the highway ) manner, or “neither-nor” (if I can't have my way, neither can you) fashion; we instead aim for a “both-and” attitude (we must allow other ways insofar as they don't interfere our own "other ways") that allows for multicultural society. We will do this or our society, like failed civilizations before us, will fail.