IS THERE A THING SUCH AS SOCIAL STRUCTURE THAT CONSTRAINS INDIVIDUAL ACTION OR SOCIETY NOTHING MORE THAN A FIGMENT OF OUR IMAGINATIONS?
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Answer:
Is there such a thing as a social structure that constrains individual action, or is society nothing more than a figment of our imaginations?
It is the human element of social structures that constrains individual action. People who take part in a social structure become elements of that structure. Government is a social structure, including law enforcement.
Laws are not force fields. Neither are social mores and taboos. By themselves they constrain nothing - but the individual conscious of them constrains their own action, not wanting censure. And when the individual breaks a taboo, those who notice may view that person unfavorably where they’d previously viewed them favorably. If the breach is significant, it may change peoples’ willingness to give their free time, attention, company and other things to the breaching person. Strong stuff.
After all, they don’t have to give anything of themselves to such a person. We want to keep company with people who “treat us right” and “respect us” after all. A great deal of social mores are embedded in peoples’ idea of how others should act towards us and around us, if they expect our approval.
Or if a person breaks the law, if anyone notices (“my stuff was stolen!” “my body was stabbed!”) a complaint is made against the lawbreaker if they were seen in the act. Or upon complaint, the hired help comes in to investigate who did it. And they do what they’re hired to do: find a culprit and put them through due process. Or fail to find who did it, and the case goes cold.
The point is: the people who freely associate with us are not figments. If we behave unpleasantly, they may choose not to associate us. The people who enforce laws are not figments. If we behave illegally they may apprehend and try us. Law doesn’t stop and punish crime. Taboo doesn’t stop and punish behavior considered antisocial. People do.
People enact. They enact in flesh and blood and muscle and bone. They enact in observation and conclusion, personal judgment of whether the other is a threat or boon companion. They enact behavioral norms by taking them in and choosing to act in ways they know are held acceptable, or misbehave and take the consequences. In terms of individual action, law is just another behavioral norm - albeit one with special consequences. Humans realize these things. We make them real in our action and reaction.
Constraint is something humans do. Humans are the only real social forces in the structure, but the structure provides standards for behavior to all, which humans internalize and apply. The human part of the social structure is the whole point of the social structure. Naturally it is also the dedicated part that does all the noticing, reacting and constraining.
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