Symbolic Systems Forum - Kenneth Taylor, Philosophy Department

Kenneth Taylor, Philosophy Department, "Where Norms Come From: A Naturalistic Approach"

ABSTRACT:

I offer a naturalistic account of the source and nature of normativity. My

account has four main features. First, I offer a purely psychologistic

account of what I call the capacity for normativity. Second I argue that

this psychological capacity for normativity is in all likelihood an

evolved capacity, designed by natural selection to make possible the

existence of normative communities among human beings. Third I argue that,

even if the capacity for normativity is not the result of selection, we

can still see that it is through, and only through, the exercise of the

psychological capacity that human beings constitute normative communities

of varying scope and duration. Finally, I argue that this psychologistic

naturalistic account of the capacity for normativity explains the

contingent and typically merely partial character of normative

communities. Moreover, it opens the way for a more systematic exploration

of the causal factors governing the growth and decay of normative

community over historical rather than evolutionary time.

BIO:

Ken Taylor is a longtime professor and current chair of the Stanford

philosophy department. His work lies at the intersection of the

philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind, with an occasional

foray into the history of philosophy. He also co-hosts the syndicated

public radio show Philosophy Talk.