The DNA of Conventions

Law and Philosophy, 2013 Forthcoming

43 Pages Posted: 21 Mar 2013

See all articles by George Letsas

George Letsas

University College London - Faculty of Laws

Date Written: March 21, 2013

Abstract

This paper defends a moralized account of conventions, according to which conventional practices are necessarily normative reasons that are ultimately grounded on moral principles (such as fairness, respect or prevention of harm). It argues that a convention exists just in case the fact that others participate in some common practice as well as facts about their motivating reasons for doing so, justify conformity to that practice. The paper locates this moralized account within the relevant philosophical literature and argues that it does better than its rivals in explaining the presence of both motivating and normative reasons in our concept of convention.

Keywords: conventions, normativity, normative reasons, motivating reasons, conventionalism, practices, rule-following, David Lewis, Andrei Marmor

Suggested Citation

Letsas, George, The DNA of Conventions (March 21, 2013). Law and Philosophy, 2013 Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2236690 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2236690

George Letsas (Contact Author)

University College London - Faculty of Laws ( email )

Bentham House
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London, WC1E OEG
United Kingdom

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