John Searles Ideas About Social Reality: Extensions, Criticisms, and Reconstructions

John R. Searle’s 1995 publication The Construction of Social Reality is the foundation of this collection of scholarly papers examining Searle′s philosophical theories. Searle’s book sets out to reconstruct the ontology of the social sciences through an analysis of linguistic practices in the context of his celebrated work on intentionality. His book provided a stimulating account of institutional facts such as money and marriage and how they are created and replicated in everyday social life. The authors in this collection provide a critical appraisal of these and other ideas presented in Searle’s original publication. The editors′ introduction clearly outlines the main issues in the debate and provides a useful introduction to Searle′s contributions to social science.

1. Editors’ Introduction: David Koepsell and Laurence S. Moss. Part I: Extensions and Criticisms: . 2. Searle, Rationality, and Social Reality: Alex Viskovatoff, University of Pittsburgh. 3. Searle and Collective Intentionality: The Self–Defeating Nature of Internalism with Respect to Social Facts: Dan Fitzpatrick, University of Hertfordshire. 4. Rationality–in–Relations: Hans Bernhard Schmid, University of St. Gallen. Part II. Criticisms and Reconstructions:. 5. Searle’s Foole: How a Constructionist Account of Society Cannot Substitute for a Causal One: Mariam Thalos, University of Utah. 6. Collective Acceptance, Social Institutions, and Social Reality: Raimo Tuomela, University of Helsinki. 7. Can Collective Intentionality Be Individiualized? Anthonie W. M. Meijers, Eindhoven University. 8. The New Role of the Constitutive Rule: Frank A. Hindriks, University of St. Andrews. 9. Collective Intentions and Collective Intentionality: L. A. Zaibert, University of Wisconsin–Parkside. 10. Searle’s Monadological Construction of Social Reality: Ingvar Johansson, Umea University. 11. Explaining Collective Intentionality: Nenad Miscevic, University of Maribor. 12. The Social Ontology of Virtual Environments: Philip Brey, University of Twente. Part III. An Illuminating Exchange: . 13. The Construction of Social Reality: An Exchange: Barry Smith and John Searle, University of Buffalo and University of California–Berkeley. Index.

David Koepsell is an attorney with a special research interest in the problems of modern philosophy. His research focuses on the intersection between the philosophy of mind and action, and moral and political theory. He teaches courses at the University of Buffalo in New York. Laurence S. Moss now serves as editor of The American Journal of Economics and Sociology. He is a Professor of Economics at Babson College and has served as the President of the History of Economics Society. He is also a well–known historian of economic thought. Moss is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and now serves on the Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.