Reify (Verb)
Meaning
Consider an abstract concept to be real.
Classification
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting.
Examples
- Historians often reify the idea of nationhood as an unchanging constant across the centuries.
- The philosopher argued that people reify their fears and anxieties when they attribute them to supernatural beings.
- By giving it a nickname, we reify the entity of the corporation, treating it as if it were a living being.
- Scholars often critique capitalism by pointing out how it reifies economic relationships as if they were the only ones that mattered.
- Critics argue that treating "the economy" as if it were a real thing - and trying to measure or improve it - serves to reify an abstract concept.