The Dynamics of Norms (Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction and Decision Theory)

In the social sciences norms are sometimes taken to play a key explanatory role. Yet norms differ from group to group, from society to society, and from species to species. How are norms formed and how do they change? This "state-of-the-art" collection of essays presents some of the best contemporary research into the dynamical processes underlying the formation, maintenance, metamorphosis, and dissolution of norms. The volume combines formal modeling with more traditional analysis, and considers biological and cultural evolution, individual learning, and rational deliberation. In filling a significant gap in the current literature this volume will be of particular interest to economists, political scientists, and sociologists, in addition to philosophers of the social sciences.