Metaphysical Nature of Social Groups: The Significance of Abstract and Concrete for Identity and Persistence of Social Groups (The Complex Interplay between Abstract and Concrete)

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the relative significance of concrete and abstract features for the identity and persistence of a group. The theoretical background for our analysis is the position according to which groups are realizations of structures. Our main argument is that the relative significance of the abstract features (structural organization of the group) with respect to the significance of concrete features (the group's members) can vary across different types of groups. The argumentation will be backed by introducing the examples in which we show that this difference in significance can affect the identity and persistence of the group.