2006-10-12 08:50:00 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
It seems that the goal of most social constructs are to form a common perception of reality. A fact that is converse to what constuctionists say; those involved with a social construct end up a feeling that the experience is arbitrary and false, would lead you to believe that you can not construct reality.
There are truths that we all know; up is up down is down, or as they call them "Brute Facts". Many of these truths seem to that defy the social constuct in many ways.
But there is also the process of institutionalism, where meaning is embedded and institutinalized into a society and its individuals, knowledge and beliefs become so deeply embedded that the reality of these meanings has therefore been constucted. So technically speaking, although you believe that your conclusions are your own reality, the fact is that portions of your reality have been socially constructed.
For example - common sense - what you may believe is a large scale natural understanding can also be defined as social contruction. These seemingly simple common understandings can be considered a large scale engineering of common responses to given situations. Therefore your basis of rality of the situation is common. You don't even realise that your response and interpritation of the situation has been constucted because it feels so natural.
Not to sound ambiguous, my overall feeling is that reality is a bit of both. There are actions and responses that over time have become so ingrained in our existence that we don't even realise that our responses and perception of reality are engineered. Other aspects of the way that you define reality are so individual and unique that only you can process the meaning and that piece of your reality.
2006-10-12 09:37:18 · answer #1 · answered by JCRbama 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. No.
2. Reality is more than social. The reality of stomach cancer is not social, it is physical.
3. Reality is everywhere, therefore you experience it in your real thoughts and life. How you allow reality to affect you is also different from others.
4. No two realities are the same, because real environments, or real people involved may be different. Even the 6° of separation can just be a real, but passing overlap of people, with no lasting consequence — just a real footnote in your history & theirs.
5. Reality is what is. A lie is a lie. A fact is a fact. Even the reality of death is different for every human, animal, et al. Death is real, though. No one gets out alife.
6. Social construction are rules made to keep social order. The reality is that many societies have different social structures.
7. The reality is that not all people acknowledge those social structures, so those social structures do not exist for them (i.e. not everyone believes in the social structures set up by Judaism or Christianity, Scientology, etc).
Good Luck and Warm Regards.
2006-10-12 12:05:58 · answer #2 · answered by mitch 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One might argue that reality is a construction of the thinking mind, based on what it thinks is real. Obviously this needn't mean the truth and often does not.
It is either shared socially or not.
Reality can be personal or social, or both, its a view.
Reality is a big word and has different meanings to different people.
Some would argue that god is a reality to them.
What is interesting it the difference between reality and actuality.
|The actual!
Religions are realities to those that think that way,needn't be the truth.
Nations have their own reality look at the USA right now!
Please I'm not trying to be judgemental to the USA just making a point.
So from certain perspectives reality is a construction.
But i question whether the actual is.
2006-10-12 09:10:56 · answer #3 · answered by sotu 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely.
"Reality" is different for each individual, depending on their individual perceptions. Nobody can provide an objective perspective on reality, because we're all inside it, measuring and interpreting it through our separate nervous systems. While there may or may not be a transcendent, objective reality, it's impossible to know for sure. (Mystical experience is perhaps the closest we can come to encountering such a reality, but again it's only real in the mind of the person who had the mystical experience).
What we generally call reality is a sort of group consensus. If most of the people around me interpret events the same way I do, we call it real. When we cannot agree on a single interpretation, we run into trouble. Thus reality is a social construction.
For example, UFO's and alien visitation are "real" to those people who have experienced the phenomena. Many who have not experienced it, however, insist that UFOs and alien visitations are not real. Ultimately, "reality" only exists in the general sense; while individual "realities" exist in all perceivers.
2006-10-12 09:17:56 · answer #4 · answered by Sir N. Neti 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. But social construction is a reality.
2006-10-12 08:56:01 · answer #5 · answered by Jim P 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Reality is. It simply exists regardless of societies desires. All a society is capable of is attempting to define their reality in an effort to maintain some control of their culture/lives.
2006-10-12 09:25:32 · answer #6 · answered by You Ask & I Answer!!! 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No it cannot be. Reality is precieved by the person, regardless what society makes of it.
2006-10-12 08:54:18 · answer #7 · answered by Sophist 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your reality exists in your mind, and my reality exists in my mind.
2006-10-12 09:06:10 · answer #8 · answered by John S 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A large part of it is.
2016-02-13 06:54:21 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO
2006-10-12 09:31:16 · answer #10 · answered by Weldon 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋