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:''See also: [[Reification (programming)]]''

:''See also: [[Reification (programming)]]''

'''Reification''' is the process of giving material form to an abstract concept or idea. It is a common device in [[literature]]; for example, in ''Lord of the Flies'' by [[William Golding]], the boar's head that the boys worship might be said to reify their descent from [[civilization]] into [[barbarism]]. Reification can also take place in [[politics]] and [[law]], as social mores and [[taboo]]s are given tangible enforcement: for example, [[South Africa]]'s twentieth century [[apartheit]] laws could be seen as a reification of the [[racism]] ingrained in that country's society at the time.

'''Reification''' is the process of giving material form to an abstract concept or idea. It is a common device in [[literature]]; for example, in ''Lord of the Flies'' by [[William Golding]], the boar's head that the boys worship might be said to reify their descent from [[civilization]] into [[barbarism]]. Reification can also take place in [[politics]] and [[law]], as social mores and [[taboo]]s are given tangible enforcement: for example, [[South Africa]]'s twentieth century [[apartheid]] laws could be seen as a reification of the [[racism]] ingrained in that country's society at the time.

==As a logical fallacy==

==As a logical fallacy==

The '''[[logical fallacy|fallacy]] of reification''', also known as '''concretism''' and the '''fallacy of misplaced concreteness''', arises when abstractions are treated as actually existing entities.  It often involves treating abstractions as more real than the human beings associated with them.  For example, [[liberal]] [[collectivism|collectivists]] argue that [[society]], [[identity politics|identity groups]], and [[family|families]] are existent entities with rights superior to the rights of the people in them.

The '''[[logical fallacy|fallacy]] of reification''', also known as '''concretism''' and the '''fallacy of misplaced concreteness''', arises when abstractions are treated as actually existing entities.  It often involves treating abstractions as more real than the human beings associated with them.  For example, [[liberal]] [[collectivism|collectivists]] argue that [[society]], [[identity politics|identity groups]], and [[family|families]] are existent entities with rights superior to the rights of the people in them.