Texts
- The Problem of Learning
- Problemistics Courseware
- Corso su Problemistica
- Resources Management
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Problemistics - Problémistique - Problemistica
The Art & Craft of Problem Dealing
Norms
Definition (Reference Books)
Definition (Ferdinand Tönnies)
Definition (Robin M. Williams Jr.)
Definition (Neil J. Smelser)
Definition (Michael Haralambos with Robin Heald)
Definition (George C. Homans)Classification (Immanuel Kant)
Classification of duties (Immanuel Kant)
Classification (Robin M. Williams Jr.)
Classification (Edgar H. Schein)Function (Charles P. Loomis)
Function (Hans Kelsen)
Function (Robin M. Williams Jr.)Value norms (Ervin Laszlo)
Norms and values (Alessandro Passerin d'Entrèves)
Nnorms and values (Robin M. Williams Jr.)
Norms and values (Erich Jantsch)
Universal norms (Voltaire)
Norms and culture (Roger Brown)
Reference Books
[1964] A Dictionary of the Social Sciences
“A standard shared by the members of a social group to which the members are expected to conform, and conformity to which is enforced by positive and negative sanctions.” (p. 472)
[1974] American Heritage Dictionary
“A standard, model, or pattern regarded as typical.”
(from Latin norma, carpenter’s square, pattern)
[1981] Longman Lexicon
“1. Pattern of action in behaviour.
2. A standard of proper behaviour or principle of right and wrong; rule.”
[1983] The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
"A rule or authoritative standard.”
[1971] Ferdinand Tönnies, On Sociology : Pure, Applied, and Empirical
“By NORM we mean a general rule of action and of other kind of behavior: it prescribes, either generally or for certain cases that are definable in advance, what shall happen or not happen, insofar as this happening is based on the willing of reasonable beings, namely, men for whom the norm is intended to have validity.”
(from "Einfuehrung in die Soziologie", Stuttgart 1931 - Book 4, Chapter 1)
[1968] Robin M. Williams jr., The Concept of Norms, in The International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 11, The Macmillan Co. & The Free Press, New York
“A norm is a rule, standard, or pattern for action (from the Latin norma, a carpenter’s square or rule). Social norms are rules for conduct. The norms are the standard by reference to which behaviour is judged and approved or disapproved. A norm in this sense is ... a cultural (shared) definition of desirable behaviour.” (p. 204)
“Norms may arise in relation to any aspect of human activity and experience that comes to be regarded as of any importance or consequence.” “Thus, there are cognitive and logical norms for carrying on scientific investigations, aesthetic norms for judging music or sculpture, and norms of grammar and style for writing in a particular language.” (p. 205)
[1962] Neil J. Smelser, Theory of Collective Behaviour
“Norms, or regulatory standards for interaction.” (p. 9)
Norms are the “ways in which the value patterns of the common culture of a social system are integrated in the concrete action of its units in their interaction with each other.” (p. 27 - from Talcott Parson and Neil Smelser, Economy and Society, p. 102)
[1984] Michael Haralambos with Robin M. Heald, Sociology. Themes and Perspectives
“A norm is a specific guide to action which defines acceptable and appropriate behaviour in particular situations” (Chapter 1, p. 5)
“Norms are enforced by positive and negative sanctions, that is rewards and punishments. Sanctions can be informal, such as an approving or a disapproving glance, or formal, such as a fine or a reward given by an official body.” (Chapter 1, p. 6)
“Certain norms are formalized by translation into laws which are enforced by official sanctions.”
(Chapter 1, p. 6)
[1950] George Homans, The Human Group, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, Fifth Printing 1965
“A norm ... is an idea in the minds of the members of a group, an idea that can be put in the form of a statement specifying what the members or other men should do, ought to do, are expected to do, under given circumstances.”
“A statement of the kind described is a norm only if any departure of real behavior from the norm is followed by some punishment.” (Chapter V, p. 123)
“Norms do not materialize out of nothing; they emerge from ongoing activities.” (Chapter V, p. 127)
[1785] Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals
- Technical Imperatives (belonging to art)
- Pragmatic Imperatives (belonging to welfare)
- Moral Imperatives (belonging to morals)
(from Second Section, p. 266)
[1785] Immanuel Kant, General Introduction to the Metaphysic of Morals
“All duties are either duties of right, that is, juridical duties, or duties of virtue, that is, ethical duties.
I. Juridical Duties
I. The Right of Humanity
- in our own person (juridical duties towards oneself)
II. The Right of Mankind
- in others (juridical duties towards others)
II. Ethical Duties
I. The End of Humanity
- in our person (ethical duties towards oneself)
II. The End of Mankind
- in others (ethical duties towards others)
(General Divisions of the Metaphysic of Morals)
[1968] Robin M. Williams jr., The Concept of Norms, in The International Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, vol. 11, The Macmillan Co. & The Free Press, New York
- Technical norms : have to do with effective means for the attainment of specific goals.
- Social rules or Institutional norms : rights, duties, disabilities and privileges (p. 206).
[1980] Edgar H. Schein, Organizational Psychology
- Pivotal norms : adherence to them is a requirement of continued membership in the organization
- Peripheral norms : it is desirable but not essential for members to adhere to them.
(from Chapter VI, p. 99)
[1960] Charles P. Loomis, Social Systems, D. Van Nostrand, Princeton, New Jersey, 1967 [Essay 1]
“Norms influence the range of goal choices and govern the selection and application of facilities in the attainment of ends and goals.”
"Norms are 'the rules of the game'."
(Essay 1, pp. 16-17)
[1979, German Edition] Hans Kelsen, General Theory of Norms, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1991
“The special function of a norm is to command a certain behaviour.” (p. 96)
“We distinguish linguistically between commanding and prohibiting. But they are not two different functions, but rather the same function relative to different behaviour: an action and the omission of this action.” (p. 96)
[1968] Robin M. Williams jr., The Concept of Norms, in The International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 11, The Macmillan Co. & The Free Press, New York
“... norms actually can guide conduct only if they prescribe or proscribe identifiable courses of action; therefore, norms are more specific and socially imperative than values or ideals.” (p. 205)
“... norms arise to meet recurrent problems. They tend to be initiated or proposed by someone who finds an immediate agreement to be in some way advantageous. They persist when, on the basis of the basic values and beliefs accepted in a society, acceptance of norms ‘cut costs.” (p. 206)
[1972] Ervin Laszlo, The Systems View of the World
“Normative values (or value norms) are things we discover by examining man’s characteristics and pointing to those values which could lead him to fulfilment. Hence normative values are not described but postulated; they are creation of the inquiring intellect.” (p. 108)
“What are the intrinsic norms of man? The Greeks had an answer: they said that the end of good life is happiness. Happiness, Aristotle specified, is the fulfilment of that which is specifically human in us.” (p. 109)
[1951] Alessandro Passerin d'Entrèves, Natural Law
“What language is to thought, norms are to values.” (p. 120)
[1968] Robin M. Williams jr., The Concept of Norms, in The International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 11, The Macmillan Co. & The Free Press, New York
"Norms are rules for behaving: they say more or less specifically what should or should not be done by particular types of actors in given circumstances.” “The same value may be a point of reference for a great many specific norms; a particular norm may represent the simultaneous application of several separable values.” “Values, as standards (criteria) for establishing what should be regarded as desirable, provide the grounds for accepting or rejecting particular norms.” “The same principle holds for values considered as desirable objects or states; for example, a high positive evaluation of ‘freedom’ or ‘authority’ may be one of the grounds for a great many specific norms in various areas of society, culture, and personality.” “As one moves along a scale of increasing generality, in which norms become more and more detached from particular circumstances, a point eventually will be reached at which ‘norm’ becomes practically indistinguishable from value.” (p. 284)
[1972] Erich Jantsch, Technological Planning and Social Futures
“The normative character of the process of rational creative action is indicated by the dominance of norms, which are derived from values.” (p. 15)
“Norms brings values into play in an explicit way. They are rules for behaviour, derived from values, guiding policy formation and action. If policy making is viewed ... as the process of searching for those norms which will help define value configurations enabling us to deal with problematic situations, its essence is the simulation of the consequences which will follow from the adoption of alternative sets of norms.” (p. 22)
[1765] Voltaire, Dictionnaire Philosophique
- Osmin. "Y a-t-il des notions communes à tous les hommes, qui servent à les faire vivre en société ?”
- Sélim. "Oui. J’ai voyagé ... et partout où j’ai passé, j’ai vu qu’on respectait son père et sa mère, qu’on se croyait obligé de tenir sa promesse, qu’on avait de la pitié pour les innocentes opprimés, qu’on détestait la persécution, qu’on regardait la liberté de penser comme un droit de la nature, et les ennemis de cette liberté comme les ennemis du genre humaine ; ceux qui pensent différemment m’ont paru des créatures mal organisées, des monstres comme ceux qui sont nés sans yeux et sans mains.”
(Article : Necessaire)
[1965] Roger Brown, Social Psychology
“A [social] norm is, in its most fundamental sense, a shared rule or guide to behaviour that is appropriate or inappropriate. Since culture is often defined as the totality of shared, transmitted guides to behaviour, it follows that a norm is simply a fragment of culture. Norms are culture particularized.” (Part II, p. 49)