[1][2] Socially constructed realities are contrasted with natural kinds, which exist independently of human behavior or beliefs.
[1][2] Simple examples of social constructs are the meaning of words, the value of paper money, and the rules of economic systems.
[3][4] Other examples, such as race, were formerly considered controversial but are now accepted by the consensus of scientists to be socially constructed rather than naturally determined.
[5][6][7] Still other possible examples, such as less empirical and more abstract concepts which underlie particular scientific theories, remain the subject of ongoing philosophical debate.
[8][9] During the 20th century, philosopher John Searle and sociologists Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann argued that some socially constructed realities—such as property ownership, citizenship, and marital status—should be considered forms of objective fact, and posited the existence of such socially constructed objective facts as a philosophical or methodological problem to be explored.