The ontological reality of communication: beyond field identity

The ongoing debate over communication’s identity may appear excessive, yet it plays a crucial role by enabling exploration beyond the field, including its core object of study. In communication research, this debate serves as self-reflection, and this article argues that perceived incoherence arises less from a lack of common ground and more from an incomplete grasp of communication’s ontological reality. Drawing on Craig’s constitutive metamodel, Einstein’s reflections on scientific fundamentals, and Cooren’s concepts of materiality and sociality, this article explores the necessity for communication to address its essential nature, similar to other sciences. It concludes that an ontological turn in communication theory is essential to advance beyond current definitional debates and better comprehend how communication constitutes the social world.