ESPF Colloquium Tobias Hansson Wahlberg, Lund University

Title: A Deflationary Truthmakers Account of Institutional Properties

Abstract:

Setting off from contemporary work in truthmaker theory, in this talk I will sketch and defend a ‘deflationary truthmakers’ account of institutional properties – i.e., properties that are in some sense ‘created’ by Status Function Declarations (to use a Searlean terminology). Standard ontological accounts of such properties, often formulated in terms of institutional properties being grounded or even caused by declarations, face severe difficulties when retroactive and strictly synchronic declarations are brought into the picture. These sorts of difficulties dissolve once a deflationary truthmakers account is adopted.

The talk draws on a work-in-progress chapter of a book manuscript on social ontology that I am currently working on. The audience might benefit from having a look at my article ‘The Creation of Institutional Reality, Special Theory of Relativity, and Mere Cambridge Change’ (2021) before the talk:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-019-02435-y