Social Groups Are Concrete Material Particulars

Journal Article

AbstractIt is natural to think that social groups are concrete material particulars, but this view faces an important objection. Suppose the chess club and nature club have the same members. Intuitively, these are different clubs even though they have a common material basis. Some philosophers take these intuitions to show that the materialist view must be abandoned. I propose an alternative explanation. Social groups are concrete material particulars, but there is a psychological explanation of nonidentity intuitions. Social groups appear coincident but nonidentical because they are perceived to be governed by conflicting social norms.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Richardson, K

Published Date

  • May 2022

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 52 / 4

Start / End Page

  • 468 - 483

Published By

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1911-0820

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0045-5091

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1017/can.2022.32

Language

  • en