Philosophy
The Metaphysics of Social Construction and Institutional Facts
Quick fact
According to philosopher John Searle, the structure of institutional reality is so powerful that we can assign functions to objects simply by declaring them, as when a piece of paper becomes 'money'.
Why this is interesting
A piece of paper has value, a line on a map has power, and a judge's sentence can take away freedom. How can mere words and symbols shape our world so profoundly?