Practice theory as flat ontology

Abstract

Ontologies are an ineliminable part of social theory. By ‘ontologies’ I mean accounts, or simply ideas, explicit or implicit, about the fundamental nature, structure, dimensions, or elements of some phenomenon or domain thereof. Because social theories concern things social, the ontologies that imbue them are accounts of, or just ideas about, the fundamental nature of social life or social phenomena. The present chapter discusses the kind of social ontology that is promulgated in theories of the practice sort and emphasizes one particular feature of this ontology, namely, its ‘flat’ character. My claim is that practice theory as social ontology holds that the realm of the social is entirely laid out on a single level (or, rather, on no level). Practice theories are not the only theories to advance flat social ontologies. Nonetheless, their version of this idea is unique and has significant implications for investigation and explanation.

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