Abstract

Kobow has recently argued for introducing Vaihinger’s Als-ob in social ontology. She discusses at length both models and fictions as cases of “thinking as if µ. Searle’s analyses on the linguistic structure of social reality are interpreted in the light of Vaihinger’s concept of fiction and the interplay between existential aspects of social life and language is thoroughly assessed. In my own discussion of Kobow’s work, I focus on possible integrations into her framework. I claim that Meinong’s views on assumptions can shed further light on fictions in social ontology and that semiotics of modelling systems can help us understanding what Kobow calls “horizon of actionµ in terms of culture.