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17 Aug 14
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Reification (fallacy)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchReification (also known as concretism, hypostatization, or the fallacy of misplaced concreteness) is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete, real event, or physical entity.[1][2] In other words, it is the error of treating as a concrete thing, something which is not concrete, but merely an idea.
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Another common manifestation is the confusion of a model with reality. Mathematical or simulation models may help understand a system or situation but real life will differ from the model (e.g. 'the map is not the territory').
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Reification is generally accepted in literature and other forms of discourse where reified abstractions are understood to be intended metaphorically,[2] but the use of reification in logical arguments is usually regarded as a fallacy.
In rhetoric, it may be sometimes difficult to determine if reification was used correctly or incorrectly.[citation needed]
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William James used the notion of "vicious abstractionism" and "vicious intellectualism" in various places, especially to critique Immanuel Kant's and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's idealistic philosophies. In The Meaning of Truth, James wrote:
Let me give the name of “vicious abstractionism” to a way of using concepts which may be thus described: We conceive a concrete situation by singling out some salient or important feature in it, and classing it under that; then, instead of adding to its previous characters all the positive consequences which the new way of conceiving it may bring, we proceed to use our concept privatively; reducing the originally rich phenomenon to the naked suggestions of that name abstractly taken, treating it as a case of “nothing but” that concept, and acting as if all the other characters from out of which the concept is abstracted were expunged. Abstraction, functioning in this way, becomes a means of arrest far more than a means of advance in thought. … The viciously privative employment of abstract characters and class names is, I am persuaded, one of the great original sins of the rationalistic mind.[7]
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The concept of a "construct" has a long history in science; it is used in many, if not most, areas of science. A construct is a hypothetical explanatory variable that is not directly observable. For example, the concepts of motivation in psychology and center of gravity in physics are constructs—they are not directly observable. The degree to which a construct is useful and accepted in the scientific community depends on empirical research that has demonstrated that a scientific construct has construct validity (especially, predictive validity).[9] Thus, if properly understood and empirically corroborated, the "reification fallacy" applied to scientific constructs is not a fallacy at all—it is one part of theory creation and evaluation in normal science.
Stephen Jay Gould draws heavily on the idea of fallacy of reification his book, The Mismeasure of Man. He argues that the error in using intelligence quotient scores to judge people's intelligence is that, just because a quantity called "intelligence" or "intelligence quotient" is defined as a testable thing does not mean that intelligence is a real thing.
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27 Mar 14
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Reification
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is treated as if it were a concrete, real event, or physical entity.
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22 Oct 13
Frank Fatale"In rhetoric, it may be sometimes difficult to determine if reification was used correctly or incorrectly"
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23 Feb 13
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For example: if the phrase "fighting for justice" is taken literally, justice would be reified.
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reification can be loosely translated as thing-making; the turning of something abstract into a concrete thing or object.
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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,
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When human-like qualities are attributed as well, it is a special case of reification, known as pathetic fallacy (or anthropomorphic fallacy).
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The concept of a "construct" has a long history in science; it is used in many, if not most, areas of science. A construct is a hypothetical explanatory variable that is not directly observable. For example, the concepts of motivation in psychology and center of gravity in physics are constructs
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construct validity (especially, predictive validity
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Just as reification is the attribution of concrete characteristics to an abstract idea, a pathetic fallacy is committed when those characteristics are specifically human characteristics, especially thoughts or feelings.
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The animistic fallacy involves attributing personal intention to an event or situation.
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06 Jun 12
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Reification (also known as concretism, or the fallacy of misplaced concreteness) is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete, real event, or physical entity.[1] In other words, it is the error of treating as a concrete thing something which is not concrete, but merely an idea. For example: if the phrase "fighting for justice" is taken literally, justice would be reified.
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16 Apr 12
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Reification (also known as concretism, or the fallacy of misplaced concreteness) is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete, real event, or physical entity.[1] In other words, it is the error of treating as a concrete thing something which is not concrete, but merely an idea.
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the price of metaphor is eternal vigilance.
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From Latin res thing + facere to make, reification can be loosely translated as thing-making; the turning of something abstract into a concrete thing or object.
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when human creations are described as “facts of nature, results of cosmic laws, or manifestations of divine will”
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Pathetic fallacy (also known as anthropomorphic fallacy or anthropomorphization) is a specific type of reification.
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Accentus, where the ambiguity arises from the emphasis (accent) placed on a word or phrase
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Amphiboly, a verbal fallacy arising from ambiguity in the grammatical structure of a sentence
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Composition, when one assumes that a whole has a property solely because its various parts have that property
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Division, when one assumes that various parts have a property solely because the whole has that same property
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Equivocation, the misleading use of a word with more than one meaning
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08 Aug 11
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In other words, it is the error of treating as a "real thing" something which is not a real thing, but merely an idea. For example: if the phrase "holds another's affection
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philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, one commits the fallacy of misplaced concreteness when one mistakes an abstract belief, opinion or concept about the way things are for a physical or "concrete" reality.
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13 May 11
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the use of reification in logical arguments is usually regarded as a fallacy. For example, "Justice is blind; the blind cannot read printed laws; therefore, to print laws cannot serve justice."
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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”.[3] Reification can also occur when a word with a normal usage is given an invalid usage, with mental constructs or concepts referred to as live beings.
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11 Feb 11
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Reification (also known as hypostatisation, concretism, or the fallacy of misplaced concreteness) is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete, real event, or physical entity.[1][2] In other words, it is the error of treating as a "real thing" something which is not a real thing, but merely an idea.
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Another common manifestation is the confusion of a model with reality. Mathematical or simulation models may help understand a system or situation but real life always differs from the model.
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From Latin res thing + facere to make
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the turning of something abstract into a concrete thing or object.
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Reification often takes place when natural or social processes are misunderstood and/or simplified;
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27 Jun 10
Dante-Gabryell MonsonReification (also known as hypostatisation, concretism, or the fallacy of misplaced concreteness) is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete, real event, or physical entit
currency money systems Abstraction distortion abuse symbolic referencemaps monwey
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24 May 10
Allan HaverholmReification (also known as hypostatisation, concretism, or the fallacy of misplaced concreteness) is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete, real event, or physical entit
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14 Apr 09
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27 Dec 08
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30 Apr 07
ronald fullerthe error of treating as a "real thing" something which is not
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