ABSTRACT
With these decisions as the conditions of the search for the ideas involved in the conception of information, we turn now to the actor’s defi nition of the situation as the place to start looking. This defi nition of the situation is conceived of as an order of objects, or using Parsons’s phrase, a situation of objects, or a situation of action. To clear the ground, we’ll need fi rst some clarifi cation on the general notion of “the object.” The discussion is not without immediate relevance to our work-day concerns in the Project. The actor’s “view” of such things in his situation as “his job,” “the organization,” “the organization’s purposes,” superiors, co-workers, obligations, etc. etc.—these notions are old friends by now as far as their being designators of objects that the actor treats, treated, or will treat. What we’re looking for in this section are the general terms in which such objects can be conceived and described.
