Question

discuss the concept of social reality in the context of symbolic universe

Answer 1

Berger and Luckmann introduced the term social construction in Social Science. Social construction of reality is a theory of knowledge in sociology and communication theory that examines the development of jointly constructed understandings of the world that form the basis for shared assumptions about reality.  According to their concept people and groups interacting in a social system create, over time, concepts or mental representations of each others' actions, and these concepts eventually become habituated into reciprocal roles played by the actors in relation to each other. When these roles are made available to other members of society to enter into and play out, the reciprocal interactions are said to be institutionalized in the process, meaning is embedded in society, Knowledge and people's conceptions and beliefs of what reality is become embedded in the institutional fabric of society. Reality is there said to be socially constructed. The institutional structures thus created are legitimated by means of symbolic universe. Symbolic universes are a set of beliefs 'everybody knows'that aim at making the institutionalized structure plausible land acceptable for the individual - who might otherwise not understand or agree with the underlying logic of the institution. As an ideological system, symbolic universe 'puts everything in its right place.' It provides explanations for why we do things the way we do. Perhaps, moral maxims, wise sayings, mythology religions and other theological thought, metaphysical traditions and other value systems are part of the symbolic universe. They are all (more or less sophisticated) ways to legitimize established institutions.

Answer 2

Symbolic universe is basically the beliefs and rules people follow which helps them to organize their lifestyle and social reality is the knowledge and understanding that is constructed between two people by helping each other.Both social reality and symbolic universe are connected to each other because one cannot work if the other is not present.