Searle, J. (1995). The Construction of Social Reality. New York, Free Press. [buy book]
Synopsis:
In The Construction of Social Reality, John Searle argues that there are two kinds of facts--some that are independent of human observers, and some that require human agreement.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Building Blocks of Social Reality
2. Creating Institutional Facts
3. Language and Social Reality
4. The General Theory of Institutional Facts Part I: Iteration, Interaction, and Logical Structure
5. The General Theory of Institutional Facts Part II: Creation, Maintenance, and the Hierarchy
6. Background Abilities and the Explanation of Social Phenomena
7. Does the Real World Exist? Part I: Attacks on Realism
8. Does the Real World Exist? Part II: Could There Be a Proof of External Realism?
9. Truth and Correspondence
Conclusion
Endnotes
Name Index
Subject Index