Hermeneutics and Social Ontology

CFS Lecture by Shaun Gallagher, Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis, USA.

Abstract

Many accounts of collective intentionality and agency start with an individualistic assumption and then ask how it's possible to form group intentions, etc. A hermeneutic view found in Dilthey, and going back to Hegel, suggests that we are already embedded in social structures that reflect our collective intentions and interests. People act and think and experience within contexts and systems that are defined by normative structures (customs, rules), practices and institutions. These reflect certain styles of life and forms of social interaction. I propose to update these ideas in the contemporary context of interaction theory and notions of cognitive institutions.

The lecture is free and open to all. Welcome!