Norm: Five Referents

Abstract: Norm: Five Referents

This essay challenges the fundamental question: “What is a norm?” According to the author, the question “What is a norm?” is a false question because it is based on the false assumption that the term ‘norm’ refers to one specific type of entity. Instead, the author argues that there are at least five possible referents of the term ‘norm’: a deontic sentence, a deontic proposition, a deontic utterance, a deontic state-of-affairs, and a deontic noema.