Hello

[penny23]

Hi to all. Good to see such an active forum.
I am Penny and I am researching religion and faith and I am a social constuctionist (or a relativist - although there is a lot of debate on these concepts).

[Recusant]

Hello and welcome to HAF, penny23!

Social constructionism seems to be a much more academic and well defined approach than relativism.  Must a person be one or the other (is it possible to be both at the same time)?  I don't know that much about social constructionism, but reading the wikipedia article, I noticed this (citation needed) section:

...strong social constructionists see everything as, in some way, a social construction. This is not to say that strong social constructionists see the world as ontologically unreal. Rather, they propose that the notions of "real" and "unreal" are themselves social constructs, so that the question of whether anything is "real" is just a matter of social convention.

This seems to be almost what I might call collective solipsism. Are you one of these "strong social constructionists?"  

Again, welcome.  I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here.

[wildfire_emissary]

Howdy penny23!

Could we say that saying that what is real and unreal being a social construct is a social construct in itself?

[The Magic Pudding]

Hello Penny

This 1923 half penny sold for $500,000, but you can have it as your free, no obligations attached, introductory gift.

[Tank]

Hi Penny

Welcome aboard  

Regards
Chris

[penny23]

Thank you all for the great welcome...and the coins

Yes I am indeed a strong social constructionist, but people seem to be confused about what that is - among constructionists themselves I dare say. I am a social psychologist or a Discursive one precisely ...so many terms! I personally don’t really want to classify myself as being this or that. What some of us believe is that we `make` social reality as we talk about it â€" through discourse. We draw upon the work of Wittgenstein and Foucault and others but there is a lot of disagreement and argument â€" as in all disciplines I suppose….