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Social Norms and Unthinkable Options

Title:

Social Norms and Unthinkable Options

Hlobil, Ulf (2016) Social Norms and Unthinkable Options. Synthese, 193 (8). pp. 2519-2537.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11229-015-0863-5

Abstract

We sometimes violate social norms in order to express our views and to trigger public debates. Many extant accounts of social norms don’t give us any insight into this phenomenon. Drawing on Cristina Bicchieri’s work, I am putting forward an empirical hypothesis that helps us to understand such norm violations. The hypothesis says, roughly, that we often adhere to norms because we are systematically blind to norm-violating options. I argue that this hypothesis is independently plausible and has interesting consequences. It implies, e.g., that some experimental paradigms for investigating social norms have hitherto unnoticed shortcomings.

Divisions:Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > Philosophy
Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Authors:Hlobil, Ulf
Journal or Publication:Synthese
Date:2016
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):10.1007/s11229-015-0863-5
Keywords:Social norms; Norm violation; Motivation; Social preference; Game Theory; Political activism
ID Code:983494
Deposited By: ULF HLOBIL
Deposited On:08 Feb 2018 14:37
Last Modified:08 Feb 2018 14:37

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