Ontologia sociale e intenzionalità: quattro tesi

In this paper, I will argue four theses on the ontological status of social entities and on their existential dependence on individuals’ intentionality. By arguing these theses, I aim to put forward some phenomenologically clarifying criteria to characterise social entities. The first thesis maintains that social entities have a sui generis ontological status: unlike natural and ideal entities, social entities existentially depend on individuals’ intentionality and are specifically normative entities. The second thesis claims that social entities existentially depend on heterotropic intentionality, i.e. on intentionality which involves at least two individuals–, and not on solitary intentionality. The third thesis identifies at least three different types of heterotropic intentionality: collective, social and intersubjective intentionality. The fourth thesis states that all three types of heterotropic intentionality are effective: they create social entities, even if each of them creates social entities of different kinds.