A planned process that is carried out by a conscious being or an organization, and is self-generated, directed towards another conscious being or an aggregate of conscious beings, an organization or an aggregate of organizations, and that is in need of being perceived.

The phrase "in need of being perceived" does not imply that only planned processes that are in fact perceived can be social acts. Reinach clarifies that by exemplifying these matters for commands: "The command is according to its essence in need of being heard (vernehmungsbedürtig". It can of course happen that commands are given without being heard. Then they fail to fulfil their purpose. They are like thrown spears which fall to the ground without hitting their target." (A. Reinach: The Apriori Foundations of the Civil Law." Edited by J. Crosby, Heusenstamm: ontos Verlag, 2012). Reinach clearly does not imply that a command that does not fulfill its prupose would not be a command. Thanks to W.R. Hogan for finding the Reinach quote.