Social artifact
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Cultural artifact. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2010. |
Social artifact is any product of individuals or groups (social beings) or of their social behavior.
Artifacts are the objects or products designed and used by people to meet re-occurring needs or to solve problems.
An example of a common social artifact is a document.
The philosopher Marx W. Wartofsky distinguished several types of artifacts:[1]
- primary artifacts, which are used in production (e.g., a hammer, a fork, a lamp, a camera, etc.)
- secondary artifacts, which are representations of primary artifacts (e.g., a user manual for a camera)
- tertiary artifacts, which are representations of secondary artifacts
Social artifacts, unlike archeological artifacts, do not have to have a physical form (see for example virtual artifact), nor do they have to be of historical value (items created seconds ago can be classified as social artifacts).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Wartofsky, Marx W. (1979). Models: Representation and scientific understanding. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Reidel.
[edit] Further reading
- Habib, Laurence, and Line Wittek (2007). The portfolio as artefact and actor. Mind, Culture and Activity, Vol. 14, No. 4, ISSN 1074-9039.
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