Philosophy often operates at such a high level of abstraction it is difficult to see how it can be useful to practicing social scientists. The work of Roy Bhaskar is no different. Renowned for its difficulty, its technicality, and its… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘social ontology’
The Social Ontology of Law, Politics, and Human Rights
The Social Ontology of Law, Politics, and Human Rights Friday 20th May, 2016 St. Cross Room, St. Cross College University of Oxford Speakers: Dr. Maria Cahill (UCC) Prof. Christian List (LSE) Prof. Andrea Sangiovanni (KCL) Dr. Laura Valentini (LSE) For… Read More ›
Two upcoming events @socialontology @sociowarwick
A workshop on the morphogenetic approach: June 21st, 10am to 5pm The University of Warwick This one day workshop is intended for those currently using or planning to use the morphogenetic approach in their research. In the first half of… Read More ›
Two upcoming events at the Centre for Social Ontology
A workshop on the morphogenetic approach: June 21st, 10am to 5pm The University of Warwick This one day workshop is intended for those currently using or planning to use the morphogenetic approach in their research. In the first half of… Read More ›
Podcasts: Towards a Digital Social Ontology
Podcasts from the Centre for Social Ontology’s symposium last year:
Towards Digital Social Ontology
This is a brief write up of a talk I gave at the first meeting of the Digital Social Science Forum in January 2016. Digital Social Ontology should be an important part of how we approach Digital Social Science given the ISRF’s commitment… Read More ›
The centre for social ontology book series
We’re now up to book number 4. This is the first one I’ve contributed to personally & it’s due to be published in early 2016. These are the first three volumes in the series: Here’s the coverage of the books… Read More ›
A Primer on the Essence of Humanity: Prolegomena to any Future Social Ontology
According to Hegel’s bird’s eye-view of the world, the Owl of Minerva takes flight at dusk. If this bird is supposed to be the personification of philosophical insight, then we start thinking deeply about the nature of something only once… Read More ›
Humanity on a Budget, or the ‘Value-Added’ of Being Human
This piece is dedicated to Stefan Stern, who picked up on – and ran with – a remark I made at this year’s Brain Bar Budapest, concerning the need for a ‘value-added’ account of being ‘human’ in a world in… Read More ›
Workshop and Symposium: The Question of the Human in Social Theory and Social Research
25th November 2015, 11:00 to 17:00 WT0.05, University of Warwick This workshop and symposium will explore the, mostly implicit, conceptions of the human, humanity and human nature that underpin various contemporary conceptions of social life. In the context of much-publicised post-human… Read More ›
Where is the university? #CSOPhD
A very interesting extract from Gilbert Ryle shared by Adam Wood (MMU) at the Centre for Social Ontology PhD Conference: A foreigner visiting Oxford or Cambridge for the first time is shown a number of colleges, libraries, playing fields, museums,… Read More ›
The Social Ontology of Social Media
I’m currently reading an excellent book, The Culture of Connectivity, by the media scholar José van Dijck. It has many virtues but her project as a whole really resonates with my interests. Though she doesn’t use the term ‘ontology’, the intentions… Read More ›
Are you a PhD student or early career researcher interested in social ontology?
Centre for Social Ontology PhD/ECR Conference June 23rd, University of Warwick, 10am – 4pm Social ontology is integral to the study of society. It is impossible to inquire into the social world without some understanding, at least tacitly, concerning the… Read More ›
Towards a Digital Social Ontology: Free Day Symposium in London on July 8th
The Social Ontology of Digital Data & Digital Technology Wednesday, July 8, 2015 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM This innovative symposium brings together leading figures from a variety of fields which address issues of digital technology and digital data…. Read More ›
Are you a PhD student or early career researcher interested in social ontology?
Centre for Social Ontology PhD/ECR Conference June 23rd, University of Warwick, 10am – 4pm Social ontology is integral to the study of society. It is impossible to inquire into the social world without some understanding, at least tacitly, concerning the… Read More ›
Towards a Digital Social Ontology: Free Day Symposium in London on July 8th
The Social Ontology of Digital Data & Digital Technology Wednesday, July 8, 2015 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM This innovative symposium brings together leading figures from a variety of fields which address issues of digital technology and digital data…. Read More ›
Centre for Social Ontology PhD/ECR Conference
Centre for Social Ontology PhD/ECR Conference June 23rd, University of Warwick, 10am – 4pm Social ontology is integral to the study of society. It is impossible to inquire into the social world without some understanding, at least tacitly, concerning the… Read More ›
Generative Mechanisms Transforming the Social Order
The latest volume in the Social Morphogenesis series examines how generative mechanisms emerge in the social order and their consequences. It does so in the light of finding answers to the general question posed in this book series: Will Late… Read More ›
Some brief thoughts about digital social ontology
A few years ago I sat in a publishing workshop in London listening to a presentation about ontology. My confusion grew as the presenter continued to make all manner of claims about ontology that I didn’t understand. As someone who… Read More ›
The Social Ontology of Digital Data & Digital Technology, July 8th in London
This innovative conference brings together leading figures from a variety of fields which address issues of digital technology and digital data. We’ve invited speakers with a range of intellectual perspectives and disciplinary backgrounds who engage with questions relating to digital… Read More ›
The Social Ontology of Digital Data & Digital Technology, July 8th in London
This innovative conference brings together leading figures from a variety of fields which address issues of digital technology and digital data. We’ve invited speakers with a range of intellectual perspectives and disciplinary backgrounds who engage with questions relating to digital… Read More ›
Call for papers: Centre for Social Ontology PhD/ECR Conference
Centre for Social Ontology PhD/ECR Conference June 23rd, University of Warwick, 10am – 4pm Social ontology is integral to the study of society. It is impossible to inquire into the social world without some understanding, at least tacitly, concerning the… Read More ›
Prosumption, appropriation and the ontology of economic form
This podcast by Dave Elder-Vass (Loughborough University) is from a Centre for Social Ontology event in January 2015. Unfortunately it cuts off a few minutes from the end – sorry! Prosumption – the unpaid performance of productive work by ‘consumers’… Read More ›
What is social ontology? An introduction in 13 minutes by Margaret Archer
This podcast is an introduction to social ontology given by Margaret Archer at a Centre for Social Ontology event in June 2014
Graham Scambler on an interdisciplinary approach to the ‘structuring of agency’ – November 11th @SocioWarwick
In the third Centre for Social Ontology seminar of 2014/15, Graham Scambler (Emeritus Professor of Medical Sociology at UCL) discusses reflexivity and an interdisciplinary approach to the ‘structuring of agency’: Margaret Archer’s recent contributions to our understanding of reflexivity in late capitalist society provide… Read More ›
The unavoidability of sociological theory
There’s an important way in which sociological theory is unavoidable. I mean this in the sense in which Alexander describes the problems of action and order as non-optional: “every theory takes some position on both” (Alexander 1987: 12). This is an… Read More ›
Four concepts of social structure
The concept of ‘social structure’ is central to sociological inquiry yet there is little agreement about what it means. This matters because social explanation hinges on what we take ‘structure’ to be and a lack of ubiquity about the term… Read More ›
The Centre for Social Ontology
The Centre for Social Ontology (CSO) was established in 2011 at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne. Now based in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick, its main focus is the Morphogenetic Project. The Morphogenetic Project produces an annual volume as part… Read More ›
PhD Workshop: What’s the point of social ontology?
What’s the Point of Social Ontology? PhD Workshop at the University of Warwick 18th June 2014, 10am – 5:30pm Ontology can often prove a contested and confusing issue within social research. Everyone has an ontology, explicit or otherwise, but the… Read More ›
PhD Workshop: What’s the point of social ontology?
What’s the Point of Social Ontology? PhD Workshop at the University of Warwick 18th June 2014, 10am – 5:30pm Ontology can often prove a contested and confusing issue within social research. Everyone has an ontology, explicit or otherwise, but the… Read More ›