Structure

Abstract

The existence of social structure has been a controversial topic in philosophy and the social sciences. This contribution uses perspectives in philosophy and social network research to consider questions surrounding the concept of structure in analytical sociology. We begin by presenting a brief overview of the concept of structure in philosophy. We then consider what has been learned about social structure through empirical research in the field of social network research. In our last overview, we present controversies in analytical sociology regarding the concept of social structure. We then draw from all three threads to consider the status of network structure as an object, the relationship between social network structure and the social, and the possibility of structure as a causal actor.