Main aim: Taking normativity seriously.
"NormaCtivity” is an international research network which aims to promote research on normativity (both human and non-human) in a new and broader perspective, connecting scholars interested in studying normative phenomena from different fields.
The basic intent is to extend the study of normativity beyond those areas that have traditionally dealt with it (i.e., in the twentieth century, almost exclusively ethics and law). In fact, we believe that a new approach to the study of normativity can open up further research directions and receive important insights from many other scientific disciplines (ethology, medicine, psychology, cognitive sciences, biology, etc.).
At the basis of this project is the curiosity aroused by questions such as: What is normativity? Is it necessarily linked to language? What types of entities can perform a normative function? Is normativity necessarily connected to some kind of consciousness? What are the sources of normativity? What kind of ‘entity’ is a norm? What does it mean to say that norms ‘exist’? In what does the ‘reality’ of norms consist? Are norms necessarily propositional (i.e. have a propositional content)? What is ‘Ought’? Are there different types of Ought? Does regulation have to be normative? Are there forms of non-normative regulation?
Our idea is that the Normactivity website may serve both as a “network” to bring together scholars from different disciplines and countries interested in such kind of questions, and also as a “platform” for collaborative activities (e.g. discussion of papers in progress) and common projects (e.g. research projects) to explore them.
The basic intent is to extend the study of normativity beyond those areas that have traditionally dealt with it (i.e., in the twentieth century, almost exclusively ethics and law). In fact, we believe that a new approach to the study of normativity can open up further research directions and receive important insights from many other scientific disciplines (ethology, medicine, psychology, cognitive sciences, biology, etc.).
At the basis of this project is the curiosity aroused by questions such as: What is normativity? Is it necessarily linked to language? What types of entities can perform a normative function? Is normativity necessarily connected to some kind of consciousness? What are the sources of normativity? What kind of ‘entity’ is a norm? What does it mean to say that norms ‘exist’? In what does the ‘reality’ of norms consist? Are norms necessarily propositional (i.e. have a propositional content)? What is ‘Ought’? Are there different types of Ought? Does regulation have to be normative? Are there forms of non-normative regulation?
Our idea is that the Normactivity website may serve both as a “network” to bring together scholars from different disciplines and countries interested in such kind of questions, and also as a “platform” for collaborative activities (e.g. discussion of papers in progress) and common projects (e.g. research projects) to explore them.
Research Areas |
Research Lines |
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The areas in which the issue of normativity is particularly important today are at least the following (for each of them there are fellows who have joined the project - see Section “Network” of this site - and who have made publications available - see Section “Publications” of this site):
1. Anthropology and Sociology 2. Biology 3. Cognitive Science 4. Economics 5. Ethology 6. Geography, Planning and Design 7. Law 8. Medicine 9. Philosophy 10. Psychology |
Some of the lines of research that we believe it would be interesting to deepen are the following (this is only a first indicative list):
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Executive Team
GIUSEPPE LORINI
Professor of Philosophy of law
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STEFANO MORONI
Professor of Planning
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