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Bound by Convention: Obligation and Social Rules
This work argues that being bound by a social convention can be valuable for its own sake. People need meaning in their lives, and conventions infuse our acts and attitudes with significance, rendering them right or wrong. Such rules bind us not just in virtue of their usefulness but also because their absence would impoverish our social world.
| Author(s) | By David Owens (Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Philosophy, Kings College, London). |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Format | Hardback |
| Pages | 288 |
| Published in | United Kingdom |
| Published | 1 Sept 2022 |
| Availability | Available |
This work argues that being bound by a social convention can be valuable for its own sake. People need meaning in their lives, and conventions infuse our acts and attitudes with significance, rendering them right or wrong. Such rules bind us not just in virtue of their usefulness but also because their absence would impoverish our social world.
Preface PART 1: FOUNDATIONS 1: Rehabilitating Conventionalism 2: The Value of Obligation 3: Convention in Action 4: Relativism About Obligation? PART 2: SOCIAL FORMS 5: Competitions 6: The Family 7: Private Property 8: Truthfulness 9: Privacy a
David Owens is Professor of Philosophy at Kings College, London. He has held visiting appointments at All Souls College, Oxford, Yale University, London University, Sydney University, New York University, and the University of Lublin. He is the author of
