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NERD and Norms: Framework and Experiments
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2022
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
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- Copyright
- Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association
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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