thingification
Turning into things
Thingification is the act of treating something abstract—an idea, a process, a relationship—as if it were a concrete object.
The term appears in philosophy and social criticism to describe how capitalism turns human labor into commodities, or how language makes fluid concepts seem fixed: The thingification of happiness into purchasable goods.
Also called reification.
German economic philosopher
- alienationState of being isolated
- fetishismFixation on specific objects
- objectificationReducing humans to things
- reificationTreating abstracts as concrete
Heidegger · Whitehead · ontology · essentialism · nominalism · abstraction · subject-object
Preoccupation with acquiring goods
- commercializationProfit-driven market introduction
- marketizationConverting to commerce-driven systems
- monetizationConverting something into revenue
- capitalismPrivate profit-based economy
alienation · exploitation · dehumanization · instrumentalization · packaging · branding · selling · trading
Reducing humans to things
- commodificationTransforming into sellable goods
- concretizationMaking abstract things tangible
- substantiationProof of truth
- fetishizationIrrational reverence for something
materialization · solidification · externalization · embodiment · actualization · crystallization · manifestation
Mental creation of ideas
- generalizationDeriving principles from examples
- categorizationArranging into groups
- formalizationProcess of making rigorous
- systematizationCreating ordered structure
codification · classification · schematization · reduction · simplification · modeling · typification · standardization
Marx
German economic philosopher
- alienationState of being isolated
- fetishismFixation on specific objects
- objectificationReducing humans to things
reification · Heidegger · Whitehead · ontology · essentialism · nominalism · abstraction · subject-object
consumerism
Preoccupation with acquiring goods
- commercializationProfit-driven market introduction
- marketizationConverting to commerce-driven systems
- monetizationConverting something into revenue
capitalism · alienation · exploitation · dehumanization · instrumentalization · packaging · branding · selling · trading · quantification
objectification
Reducing humans to things
- commodificationTransforming into sellable goods
- concretizationMaking abstract things tangible
- substantiationProof of truth
fetishization · materialization · solidification · externalization · embodiment · actualization · crystallization · manifestation
conceptualization
Mental creation of ideas
- generalizationDeriving principles from examples
- categorizationArranging into groups
- formalizationProcess of making rigorous
systematization · codification · classification · schematization · reduction · simplification · modeling · typification · standardization · quantification
thingificationpersonification
Attributing humanity to non-humans
humanization · anthropomorphization · animation · vivification · dignification
thingificationhumanization
Attributing personal characteristics
dignification · empowerment · liberation · emancipation · self-actualization
thing, nothing, things, anything, everything, something, thingy, nothingness, somethings