Social Objects versus Technical Objects

The category of objects has received much attention in recent years. Various contributions, such as the actor-network theory of those such as Bruno Latour and the object-oriented philosophy of Graham Harman, have done much to return objects to the very center of social theorizing.

The specific focus of this entry is on the terms technical object and social object. Each of these terms has been used in various ways. For example, the term technical object features prominently, if quite differently, in the works of philosophers of technology, such as Martin Heidegger and Gilbert Simondon, while the term social object appears in a range of accounts from symbolic interactionism (referring to objects that we “give meaning to in our interactions”) to marketing (where social objects are those objects that “bring us together”).

The focus of this entry is specifically upon uses of the terms technical object and social object that have come to the fore in attempting to capture, or elaborate, a particular distinction, namely, that between activities such as using a hammer to mend a shutter and using a passport to gain access to another country. Although both kinds of activity involve the use of material objects for some clearly defined purpose, the first activity involves only, or primarily, the use of the physical properties of the object itself (e.g., the weight or hardness of the hammer), whereas the second activity involves the use of something other, or much more, than this.

In considering the nature of this distinction, two main questions arise. First, exactly what kinds of causal powers and properties are we drawing upon when objects such as hammers, nails, machinery, passports, identity cards, money, and so on, are used, and where are such powers and properties located? Second, are such objects the same kinds of things, being used in different ways, or is there a useful distinction to be made between the kinds of objects that can be captured by the terms technical objects and social objects?

This entry identifies three strands of social theory that either directly address or have important implications for the nature of the distinction noted above [Page 922]and the questions raised. These strands are distinguished by a focus upon each of the following: (a) the intrinsic and extrinsic causal powers of objects, (b) the technical and social function, and (c) the signaling properties of different objects.