Money, Institutions, and Social Groups | J. P. Smit

What is the nature of social institutions? Is Searle correct that collective agreement is the key to understanding social phenomena, or should we pursue a different theoretical framework?

Smit argues for a different understanding of institutions, which relies on the notion of a coordination game.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:15 Thought Experiment: Prison Economy
01:29 The Nature of Money: Abstract vs. Physical
02:12 Searle's Explanation of Money
03:45 Philosophical Debates on Institutional Objects
05:02 Game Theoretical Account of Money
08:08 Analogy: Chess and Money
20:06 Critique of Complex Theories of Money
24:18 Coordination Games and Social Phenomena
35:36 Exploring Social Facts and Ontology
36:46 Human Existence and Social Phenomena
38:03 Borders and Incentives
41:47 Dormant Laws and Institutions
45:41 Legal Definitions and Descriptive Tasks
53:27 The Nature of Companies and Legal Entities
01:02:14 Social Groups and Identity
01:08:17 Concluding Thoughts

Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff
Editor and Producer: Ella Coleman

Contact us: Mark.Oppenheimer[at]gmail and Jwerbe[at]gmail

[paulcallaghan]

Dr Smit was one of my favourite Philosophy lecturers when I was studying at Stellies. Absolute legend

[eronfas]

As a lawyer myself, I would offer the following observation:

One cannot sanguinely read-off one's metaphysics from one's reading of the law.

[businesspins]

CURRENCY must fulfil the following criteria in order to be useful:

Medium of exchange
Unit of Account
Durable
Divisible
Portable
Fungible

MONEY must have all of those- and also be a Store of Value.

It’s as simple as that.

[swerremdjee]

I disagree about if people all die money doesn't die with them, the value we gave to it does.
If i came to this planet when all people are gone i would still find money here.
My argument was/is southparks spacemoney, or i got one about ants.
Ants have different needs than us and different values, nothing on a first glance they do (besides the things we dont fully understand about their role in nature) if of value to us, but to them its important what they are doing.
When all the ants are gone the anthills or any borrows are still there.
We all need to participate for money to have the value we gave to it, the money still is fictional and the product you get with is real, the money is an agreement about the value of the product, the resource has the real value

[swerremdjee]

Heay, my capitalism and comunism are still the same argument🙂, money is a agreement argument that goes with it.

[swerremdjee]

Why is there electricity and money isnt when when all people suddenly disappear, did we take the money with us?🙂

[businesspins]

Don’t confuse “Money” with “Currency”
You’re all talking about Currency.
MONEY must have an element of STORE OF VALUE.
Only Gold and Silver tick this box correctly.
Everything else is currency/credit

[swerremdjee]

You and Mark are both Jewwish and think you are pretty smart because you went allong with the doctrine, it took blerry long to come to this conclusion, which Ive been saying for years, even before i started commenting on the south African channels 6 or 7 years ago.
Why did all the less educated people get it instantly but higher educated didn't?

[swerremdjee]

What i think is Strange (not realy but you should) is that you didn't want to be a jew before but after okt the 7th you did.
Part is normal but another part is not, you would say it would make you distance even more from it, but it didn't...