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The question of the bearer of social facts: John Searle, Margaret Gilbert and the concept of Ubuntu

I agree with John Searle that social groups and other institutional facts—such as money, marriage, football, government, church, and market—exist because of the collective consent and acceptance of people. Social facts, therefore, are entities that acquire a status beyond their physical structure and fulfill specific functions. The loss of social acceptance leads to the collapse of these institutions. Central to my critical engagement with Searle’s theory of social reality is his thesis that the collective acceptance of institutional facts is based on the consent of individuals. In critiquing this thesis, I draw on Margaret Gilbert’s approach, which posits that social facts are often supported by a plural subject. In doing so, I suggest that the concept of ubuntu might offer a way to overcome the individualism that persists even in Gilbert’s work.

Research questions

My research has both general and specific aims. The general aim is to compare the emergence and structure of social reality as conceptualized by John Searle and Margaret Gilbert. This general aim is further broken down into the following specific aims:

• To explore John Searle’s concept of collective intentionality and Margaret Gilbert’s theory of the plural subject;
• To understand the role of language in the creation of social facts;
• To offer a constructive critique of John Searle’s social ontology;
• To confront John Searle’s collectivist approach with Margaret Gilbert’s theory of the plural subject and the African concept of ubuntu.

Research questions

• How do social groups and other institutions develop?
• What is their structure?
• Is a social group merely a collection of individuals or does it possess its own specific status, distinct from the individuals who constitute it?

Research methods

To address these questions, I am undertaking a comparative and critical study of three philosophical models: John Searle’s model of collective intentionality, Margaret Gilbert’s theory of the plural subject, and the Ubuntu model.

Literature

Gilbert, Margaret. Marcher ensemble. Essai sur les fondements des phénomènes collectifs. Paris: PUF. 2003.

Gilbert, Margaret. Joint Commitment: How we make the social world. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2015.

Ngomane, Mungi. I am because you are. Ubuntu: 14 südafrikanische Lektionen für ein Leben in Verbundenheit. München: Kailash. 2019.

Samajiku Lufunda, Kaumba. Comprendre Ubuntu. R.P. Placide Tempels et Mgr Desmond Tutu sur une étoile d'araignées. Paris: L'Harmattan. 2020.

Searle,  John. La construction de la réalité sociale. Paris: Gallimard.1998. 

Searle,  John. Making the social world. The structure of human civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2010.