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Publication Details

Social Representations: A Cognitive Research Program

(Original title: Sociálne reprezentácie – kognitívny výskumný program)
Filozofia, 63 (2008), 5, 397-406.
Type of work: Papers
Publication language: Slovak
Abstract

The paper gives an explanation of some ontological and epistemological commitments of a cognitive research program dealing with the social representations, which has been coined by Dan Sperber, namely of the epidemiology of representations. Social representations are described as causal chains linking together mental representations and public productions. The importance of the psychological aspects and external, historical aspects is stressed as necessary in explaining social phenomena. The paper reviews critically Durkheim’s concept of social phenomena and an epistemologically more plausible alternative is offered.

Keywords

Social representations, Cognition, Mental representations, Cognitive Anthropology, Dan Sperber, Émile Durkheim

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