This is a past event
22 February 2017, 15:00 - 16:00,
Philosophy Colloquium w/ Katherine Hawley (St Andrews),
Title: What are Social Groups?
Philosophy Colloquium w/ Katherine Hawley (St Andrews)
Title: What are Social Groups? Abstract: What is a committee, a book group, or a band? What about a crowd, a population, or a social class? I defend the view that such social groups are particular, singular, concrete, and composite. That is, they are not sets, or pluralities, or universals. Instead, they are large material objects which have smaller material objects, including individual human beings, as parts. I argue that although this view has many advantages, it has been unduly neglected by philosophers writing on this topic, because they have been over-impressed by a range of standard objections to it. I show in turn how each of those standard objections fails, often because their proponents have not noticed the similarities between social groups and social individuals. Finally, I argue that social groups are interesting because they are social, not because they are groups, and that this point can best be appreciated once we realise that they are articular, singular, concrete, and composite.
- Venue
- 50-52 College Bounds room CB202