La confianza y la desconfianza en las instituciones: El puzle inconcluso de la realidad social serleana

Rodrigo  González

doi:10.5354/0719-790X.2025.75687

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Trust and distrust of institutions

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Rodrigo González Universidad de Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9693-0541

No. 19 (2025): Enero - Julio 2025

https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-790X.2025.75687

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Abstract

This article deals with two pieces of Searle’s unfinished puzzle of social ontology: trust and distrust of institutions. In the first section, I examine the normative character of Searle’s social ontology, which emphasizes concepts such as collective intentionality, status functions, institutions and, especially, deontic powers. In the second section, I show that, given the normative character of such an ontology, Searle does not explain the social phenomenon of trust in institutions. In the third section, I show how the collective recognition of institutions turns out to be problematic. In the fourth and final section, I analyze how the absence of collective recognition allows the explanation of the crisis of trust in institutions. I conclude that a complete theory of social reality must include trust and distrust of institutions, unlike what Searle does with his puzzle of social ontology.

Keywords:

Searle, Searlean social ontology, trust in institutions, distrust of institutions, instituional crisis

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How to Cite

González, R. . (2025). Trust and distrust of institutions: Searle and the unfinished puzzle of his social reality. Resonancias. Revista De Filosofía, (19), 51–67. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-790X.2025.75687