Language and Society: A Controversy Between Searle and Bourdieu

Abstract

My aim in this article is to establish a connection or bridge between philosophy of language and philosophy of society by showing the relationship between language and society within the framework of John Searle and Pierre Bourdieu's ideas. To this end, I discuss Searle's claim that it is language that creates social reality and, in a sense, human civilisation. I argue that his strong emphasis on the constitutive role of language actually demonstrates the relationship between language and society. In order to make this relationship more visible, I discuss Bourdieu's views on language and his criticisms of speech acts theory. Using these criticisms against Searle's claims, I offer a comprehensive analysis of the two thinkers' views on the relationship between language and society. Fundamentally, I try to strengthen the connection I plan to establish between philosophy of language and philosophy of society by analysing, evaluating and comparing both Searle's and Bourdieu's views on the relationship between language and society. By addressing these two thinkers together, I try to violate the distinctions and boundaries between these two thinkers as well as between problem areas and philosophical disciplines. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.