reification
Treating abstractions concretely
Reification is treating an abstraction as if it were a concrete, tangible thing.
In philosophy and social theory, it describes the error of regarding concepts, relationships, or processes as fixed objects: The reification of "the market" obscures the human decisions behind it.
The term appears in academic criticism of how we talk about ideas like justice, culture, or race as though they existed independently of the people and practices that constitute them.
Transforming into sellable goods
- alienationState of being isolated
- fetishismFixation on specific objects
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- ideologyStructured belief framework
essentialism · abstraction · concretization · externalization · substantiation · rationalization · depersonalization · quantification
Making abstract things tangible
- abstractionDistilling to essential qualities
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- conceptualizationMental creation of ideas
- embodimentConcrete manifestation of idea
categorization · schema · framing · literalization · language · perception
Transforming into sellable goods
- alienationState of being isolated
- fetishismFixation on specific objects
- capitalismPrivate profit-based economy
- praxisCustomary action or application
dialectics · superstructure · base · bourgeoisie · proletariat · exploitation · ideology
Concrete realization of abstraction
- objectTangible entity or aim
- classGrouping by shared traits
- instanceSingle occurrence of something
- constructorOne who assembles
materialization · serialization · persistence · OOP · encapsulation · polymorphism · inheritance · prototype
Treat as mere thing
- concretizeMake abstract things tangible
- materializeBecome physically present
- substantiateProve something is true
- externalizeExpress inwardly held feelings
actualize · embody · solidify · manifest · instantiate · conceptualize
commodification
Transforming into sellable goods
- alienationState of being isolated
- fetishismFixation on specific objects
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
ideology · essentialism · abstraction · concretization · externalization · substantiation · rationalization · depersonalization · quantification · reductionism
concretization
Making abstract things tangible
- abstractionDistilling to essential qualities
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- conceptualizationMental creation of ideas
embodiment · categorization · schema · framing · literalization · language · perception
commodification
Transforming into sellable goods
- alienationState of being isolated
- fetishismFixation on specific objects
- capitalismPrivate profit-based economy
praxis · dialectics · superstructure · base · bourgeoisie · proletariat · exploitation · ideology
instantiation
Concrete realization of abstraction
constructor · materialization · serialization · persistence · OOP · encapsulation · polymorphism · inheritance · prototype · entity
objectify
Treat as mere thing
- concretizeMake abstract things tangible
- materializeBecome physically present
- substantiateProve something is true
externalize · actualize · embody · solidify · manifest · instantiate · conceptualize
- critical theorydeconstruction, Marxism, feminism, simulacrum, postcolonialism
- MarxismMarx, Karl Marx, Engels, Friedrich Engels, proletariat
- GestaltGestalt, Gestalt therapy, figure-ground, closure, proximity
- Marxist CriticismMarx, Engels, Lenin, Marxist theory, Marxist analysis
- Semantic Webtriple, triples, ontologies, knowledge graph, semantic web
- type systemsADT, product type, variant, tuple, type error
reificationabstraction
Distilling to essential qualities
idealization · dematerialization · conceptualization · spiritualization · sublimation
reificationdemystification
Explaining the obscure
denaturalization · consciousness raising · deconstruction · unmasking · reflexivity
real, realize, reality, thingification, reify, objectification, reified