Ontology and the study of social reality: emergence, organisation, community, power, social relations, corporations, artefacts and money
捍卫一种自然主义的社会现实观，强调强涌现和“组织-过程”范畴，并与塞尔的本体论比较，旨在为社会科学提供类似自然科学的科学基础。
The conception of social reality I have previously defended (and here extend), positing features such as social relations, positions and powers, is thoroughly naturalistic and even consistent with modern interpretations of quantum field theory. It also serves to ground a social science that can be scientific in the sense of natural science. This is the thesis defended here. Central to the argument is an emphasis on a 'strong' form of emergence and the category of 'organisation-in-process'. To bring out various salient features of the position defended, I take the opportunity to compare aspects of it with relevant components of the contribution of John Searle, whose ontological conception appears at once to be both very similar yet also very different. Copyright The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.