The relationship between language, society and Power in John R. Searle and Pierre Bourdieu

The aim of this thesis is to establish a connection or bridge between the philosophy of language and the social philosophy by showing that the relationship between language, society and power in the light of thoughts of John Searle and Pierre Bourdieu. For this purpose, firstly, the principles that Searle thinks construct social reality are mentioned and the connection of these principles with language is revealed. Then, Searle's claim that language is what creates social reality, and, in a sense, human civilization is discussed, and it is stated that this claim of his about the founding role of language actually shows the relationship between language, society and power. In order to make this relationship more visible, the concepts and assumptions of Bourdieu's practical theory, which he built to eliminate social power relations and oppositions in social sciences, are discussed together with his understanding of language. When these concepts and assumptions are considered and analyzed together with language, the relationship between language, society and power becomes clear in Bourdieu's thought. In the final analysis, the connection planned to be established between the philosophy of language and social philosophy has been strengthened by analyzing, evaluating and comparing both Searle's and Bourdieu's views on the relationship between language, society and power. By considering these two thinkers together, the distinctions and boundaries between two mentioned thinkers as well as between the research interests and philosophical disciplines have been tried to be violated and, in a sense, to be eliminated.