Normativity

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Normativity is a general term for the phenomenon of standards or norms. Since norms themselves can occur in a complex variety of different types, so too the use of the general term normativity can vary significantly.

1 In Philosophy
2 In Social Science
3 Hetero-Normativity
4 White-Normativity

[edit] In Philosophy

In Philosophy, normativity denotes the presence of standards in general. The standards themselves may take on a variety of guises; from concrete and specific laws or rules to more abstract ideals of truth or justice. As the idea of a standard, normativity need not be associated with what is normal but rather to what can be considered normative. Recent research in philosophy has focused on the normative dimension of experience and concept-application in relation to traditional epistemological questions about how subjects come to know anything at all.^[1] The defining feature of normativity is that it involves the idea of a standard that applies to one or more subjects even if they in fact fail to meet it, and regardless of any particular sample that is specified. Paradigmatic examples of such norms are requirements of morality, requirements of rational action and belief, and perhaps also aesthetic standards of various kinds.

[edit] In Social Science

In the Social Sciences, one operates with the term normativity as a way of distinguishing different sets of actual norms that govern the internal practices of groups. Statistically, normativity is associated with a use of the word "normal". The idea is that, in a certain specified context, a certain kind of behaviour or the possession of certain properties is normal for a particular kind of individual. This kind of normativity can be thought of as statistical because it seems plausible to analyse what it is for a behaviour or property to be normal for a kind of individual in terms of the statistical notion of a "positive correlation", in the context being considered, between the kind of individual and the relevant behaviour or property. A positive correlation exists if and only if, across a given class of individuals that contains individuals of kind A, and individuals that are not of kind A, that more A-kind individuals than non-A-kind individuals have property P. As can be seen from this explanation, the analysis of "normal" in terms of positive correlations makes the statistical notion of normativity highly relative: the question of whether or not something is "normal" in the statistical sense is roughly equivalent to the questions of whether or not it is "common" or "to be expected". As the analysis makes explicit: whether or not something is common or to be expected will always depend very much on the context that is (perhaps only implicitly) being considered.

[edit] Hetero-Normativity

Hetero-normativity is the thought process and feelings of an individual that heterosexuality is the socially accepted norm. This can be seen in everyday interactions when heterosexual people assume, based on nothing, that another individual is heterosexual. Heterosexuals may use these preconceived norms when assessing an individual on the street, or in a story about an individual. Only dose specifiying the sexual preference of the individual allow one to stray from the idea of hetero-normativity.

[edit] White-Normativity

White-normativity is the idea or feeling by white people in the U.S. that everyone in daily interactions or in conversation is of the same race unless specified. If one individual was explaining his or her interactions during a day, by not describing the color of individuals involved, one may automatically assume that they were all white. This is an example of White-normativity.