|
Reification (also known as hypostatization or concretism) is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it represented a concrete, real event or physical entity. In other words, it is the error of treating as a "real thing" something which is not one. When people describe natural events (like geyser) or social institutions) like government) as alive, they are committing a reification fallacy. Look up fallacy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Look up ambiguity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Abstraction is the process of reducing the information content of a concept, typically in order to retain only information which is relevant for a particular purpose. ...
Look up belief in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Construction on the North Bytown Bridge in Ottawa, Canada. ...
Strokkur geyser, Iceland A geyser is a type of hot spring that erupts periodically, ejecting a column of hot water and steam into the air. ...
A social institution is any institution in a socity that works to socialize the groups or people in it. ...
For other uses, see Life (disambiguation). ...
Note that reification is perfectly acceptable in literature, where it is often used as a metaphor. Its use in logical arguments is a mistake (fallacy). In rhetoric it may be sometimes difficult to determine if reification was used correctly or incorrectly. Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ...
Look up metaphor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Rhetoric (from Greek , rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of oral language and written language; however, this definition of rhetoric has been contested since rhetoric emerged as a field of study in Universities. ...
Specific subset of reification is a pathetic fallacy (or anthropomorphic fallacy; in literature known as personification), where the theoretical concepts are not only considered alive, but human-like and intelligent. err. ...
Phillipp Veits Germania (1877), a personification of Germany. ...
Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin: wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (the great apes). ...
Ethymology
From latin res thing + facere to make, reification can be 'translated' as thingification; the turning of something abstract into a concrete thing or object. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...
Theory Reification often takes place when natural or social processes are misunderstood and/or simplified; for example when human creations are described as “facts of nature, results of cosmic laws, or manifestations of divine will”. Reification can also accure when a word with a normal usage is given an invalid usage. Such "mental shortcuts" lead to ascribing substance or real existence to mental constructs or concepts, particulary treating them as a live beings. When human-like qualities are attributed as well, it is a special case of reification, known as pathetic fallacy (or anthropomorphic fallacy). err. ...
A reification circle refers to the event when a norm, first seen as artificial and forces, in time becomes so accepted that even its creators start to think of it as a natural law. It has been suggested that Convention (norm) be merged into this article or section. ...
Reification fallacy is often used to dispute concepts such as astrology or religion. Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut. ...
Reification vs hypostatization Sometimes a distinction is drawn between reification and hypostatization based on the kinds of abstractions involved. In reification they are usually philosophical or ideological, such as "existence," "good," and "justice."
Reification in literature Note that reification applies to rhetorical devices, as well, such as metaphor and personification, which are not fallacies at all, but important and useful tools of language in literature. The distinction between treating abstractions as material existents rhetorically or using them in arguments that result in false conclusions, is often difficult to detect, or even to describe, especially when the fallacious use is intentional. Rhetoric (from Greek ρητωρ, rhêtôr, orator) is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar). ...
Look up metaphor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Phillipp Veits Germania (1877), a personification of Germany. ...
Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ...
Examples When social and legal norms are seen not as the effect of social development, but as natural laws or an effect of ingerention of some higher forces (God, gods, etc.). ("Monarchy is just") Natural law or the law of nature (Latin lex naturalis) is a law whose content is set by nature, and that therefore has validity everywhere. ...
Arguing that a country can act as a being: "My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your country." (John F. Kennedy) John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ...
Assuming government is a being with desires ("Government wants to take our money").
Assuming universe has a purpose ("Universe will not allow human race to die out by accident")
Assuming religion has a goal ("Religion attempts to destroy our liberty and is therefore immoral")
Assuming concepts like good and evil have motives of their own ("Good and evil are forces ruling the universe").
In Marxism philosophy, reification has a specific meaning, and is used to describe evolution of concepts like labor - as an economic commodity, when before it meant the everyday life of work - or capital, the objectification of desire in currency. Marxismtakes its name from the praxis — the synthesis of philosophy and political action — of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
Reification (German: Verdinglichung, literally: ver-, over + ding: thing + -lichung: as english, -ify) is the consideration of an abstraction or an object as if it had human or living existence and abilities; at the same time it implies the thingification of social relations. ...
In politics, a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has a second meaning based on an alternative sense of capital) is the principal city or town associated with a countrys government. ...
Similar fallacies Pathetic fallacy (also known as anthropomorphic fallacy is a specific type of reification. Pathetic fallacy refers to a subset of reification fallacies - the description of inanimate natural objects in a manner that endows them with human feelings, thoughts and sensations. Note that every pathetic fallacy is a reification, but not every reification is a pathetic fallacy. err. ...
Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin: wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (the great apes). ...
Reification fallacy should not be confused with other fallacies of ambiguity:
- accentus, where the ambiguity arises from the emphasis (accent) placed on a word or phrase
- amphiboly, a verbal fallacy arising from ambiguity in the grammatical structure of a sentence
- composition, when one assumes that a whole has a property solely because its various parts have that property
- division, when one assumes that various parts have a property solely because the whole has that same property
- equivocation, the misleading use of a word with more than one meaning
Accentus Ecclesiasticus is a Church music term, the counterpart of concentus. ...
Amphibology or amphiboly (from the Greek ampibolia) is, in logic, a verbal fallacy arising from ambiguity in the grammatical structure of a sentence. ...
Composition can refer to: // Composition in art In the fine arts, compostion may refer to any of the following: Composition (visual arts) Musical composition MIDI composition In literature, oratory, and rhetoric, composition refers, as the etymology of the word quite literally indicates, to the putting (words) together to produce a...
Look up division in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Equivocation is a logical fallacy. ...
See also Reification, also called hypostatization, is treating a concept, an abstraction, as if it were a real, concrete thing. ...
References
External links - Fallacy of the Week: Reification - part 1, part 2
|
Feeds |
Contact