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NERD and Norms: Framework and Experiments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Peter Danielson ,
Alex Mesoudi  and
Roger Stanev
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Abstract

We advocate and share the same theoretical framework for empirical research in ethics as exemplified in Christina Bicchieri's The Grammar of Society. Our research differs from Bicchieri's in our approach to experimentation: where she relies on lab experiments, we have constructed an experimental platform based on an internet survey instrument; where she relies on rational reconstructions, we do not. In this paper we focus on four contrasts in our methods: (1) we provide a space to explore ethical influence and norm transmission between participants, belief and choice revision, and reputation over time; (2) we provide ways for participants to expand the context of their and others’ decisions; (3) we focus on more realistic ethical decisions than is allowed by games; and (4) we explain why Bicchieri's method of rational reconstructions presents challenges to her theory of social norms. Our methods are complementary to Bicchieri's, and together we can work toward developing more comprehensive empirically informed ethics.

Type
Author Meets Critics: Cristina Bicchieri's The Grammar of Society
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 75 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2006 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association. Part II: Symposia Papers. Edited by Cristina Bicchieri and Jason Alexander , December 2008 , pp. 830 - 842
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

Thanks to the NERD team for the tool and teamwork that provided us with the material for this paper, as well as for helpful comments on a draft.

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