The Metaphysics of Institutions. Powers, Contingency and Freedom

The aim of this research project is to shed light on the fundamental nature and mode of being of institutions. Starting from the work of John Searle, the goal is to develop an ontology of institutions that is both better metaphysically grounded than Searle's, and more developed towards applications in the social sciences and social and political philosophy. It relies on a metaphysics of powers and dispositions, as developed in the recent literature in analytic metaphysics, in order to offer an account of institutions as dispositional structures that are ontologically dependent on specific human powers. Specific applications in the social sciences and political philosophy include the ontology of money, banking, marriage, property and the state.