Is there such a thing as a constitutive rule?

Friday 20th February 2009 (10:00-12h00 am)

Olivier Morin (PhD with Dan Sperber)

Abstract: In the philosophy of social sciences, one frequently encounters the claim that every institution is founded upon at least one constitutive rule. Constitutive rules, as opposed to rules that merely regulate already existing behaviours, are supposed to make possible social practices that would not exist independently of the rules thaey are constituted by. Thus, it is said, one cannot, on pain of contradiction, lend money to one's self, because one constitutive rule of the institution of lending is that there must be a borrower distinct from the lender. Two claims will be defended. First, in order to be constitutive in an interesting way, a rule must be part of a complete definition of the institution it constitutes. Otherwise, an instance of the institution could exist without instantiating the rule. Second, institutions are very hard to define in a complete way. To say that a rule is constitutive is merely to make a risky bet on the future of that institution and the stability of public consensus.