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Elder-Vass on the Causal Power of Social Structures

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Author

Summary, in English

In this review essay I examine the central tenets of sociologist Dave Elder-Vass’s recent contribution to social ontology, as put forth in his book The Causal Power of Social Structures: Emergence, Structure and Agency (2010). Elder-Vass takes issue with ontological individualists and maintains that social structures exist and have causal powers in their own right. I argue that he fails to establish his main theses: he shows neither that social structures have causal powers “in their own right” (in any sense of this expression) nor that they exist.

Department/s

Publishing year

2014

Language

English

Pages

774-791

Publication/Series

Philosophy of the Social Sciences

Volume

44

Issue

6

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Topic

  • Philosophy

Keywords

  • causal power
  • critical realism
  • emergence
  • mereology
  • ontological individualism
  • social ontology
  • structure

Status

Published

Project

  • Social Ontology and Theories of Persistence
  • Metaphysics and Collectivity

Research group

  • Metaphysics and Collectivity

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0048-3931