Habitus is the human-made theoretical concept denoting a system of durable, transposable dispositions — embodied schemas of perception, thought, and action — acquired through prolonged exposure to particular social conditions. These dispositions operate as a 'second nature,' generating practices that are both structured by prior conditions and structuring of future ones. Parameters: (1) durability — dispositions persist across contexts and time; (2) transposability — the same general schema applies across diverse domains; (3) practicality — dispositions manifest in action, not explicit rules; (4) social genesis — dispositions are acquired through experience within specific fields. Persistence mechanism: intergenerational transmission via socialization, education, and everyday practice; theoretical discourse in sociology and anthropology; empirical application in field analysis. [formal: habitus | substrate: behavior | horizon: a life | explicit: no | epoch: 0.57]
Accepted ontology entry
habitus
Habitus is the human-made theoretical concept denoting a system of durable, transposable dispositions — embodied schemas of perception, thought, and action — acquired through prolonged exposure to particular social conditions. These dispos…
Definition
Why it is in scope
human-made theoretical concept describing the system of embodied dispositions, inclinations, and practical schemas that people acquire through social experience and that generate practices and perceptions. It is the map of how social structures become second nature — a human invention in social theory, not a natural faculty.
Names and aliases
- habitusen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrrsurs102b1q89dz7ggnyryDERIVED_FROM →
Phenomenology (Husserl, Merleau-Ponty) existed first and directly fed into the development of habitus (Bourdieu, 1970s). Bourdieu explicitly drew on phenomenological insight about embodied experience to build the concept of habitus. Historical derivation: which came first?
- cmrmefzfr00eudveaiyr1pcc2INSTANCE_OF →
Habitus is a specific kind of schema — an embodied social schema that structures perception, action, and judgment. Law 9 INSTANCE_OF: specific→general. A competent Bourdieu scholar would call habitus 'a schema'.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 19, 2026, 2:36 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 9b478d48110b14916d935cb948857a3f117552310e5be41d5f5fd2f483fbce44