Reification (fallacy)

Reification (pronounced: "Re | ifikation " even reification, from the Latin res " thing " and facere "to make" ) means " objectification ", ie the consideration of an idea, a synonym, or a phrase, as if a specific set of facts or object are described. Example: His conscience kept him from having to get into this train.

Philosophy

Scientific theories use according to their function distinguishable concept classes, eg " descriptive terms", constructs, indicators, etc. Intervening variables, which may come to the mistake of confusing the functions. For example, if Freud the concept of the superego as " notation means " introduces to talk about inhibitions, this super-ego may be awarded no causal effect (" The super-ego is to blame for that X. behaves inhibited ").

Sociology

In sociology are operationalized by means of individual indicators so that you can refer to them and make them measurable by the reification of abstract concepts such as identity or attitude. But it is also apparent that reification is often understood as a synonym for a misperception or a fallacy. So reified concepts often ask themselves is something they should really only describe abstract. The abstract concept appears as reality (see Thomas theorem).

The problem occurs when hypothetical models are believed to be real. Terms such as "Islam " belong to them. If these terms included in the general use of language and thought in the course of time they create a reality that does not actually exist so. In this example it would be: a typical argument of the critique of ideology.

Berger and Luckmann define reification as follows:

" Reification is to understand the products of human activity as if they were something else than human products -. Circumstances such as the nature, effects of cosmic laws, or manifestations of divine will "

Computer science

In the computer science Ontologieerstellung describes " reification " the transformations of relations to ontology classes. In RDF example, there is the possibility that the subject of a subject-predicate - object triples in turn is such a triple ( " a statement about a statement" ).