A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms, or criteria, often taking the form of a custom. A technical standard is an established norm or requirement It is usually a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria methods processes and practices Norms are sentences or sentence meanings with practical i e action-oriented (rather than descriptive explanatory or expressive import the most common of which Social norms have been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values beliefs attitudes and behaviors In Law, custom can be described as the established patterns of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting
Certain types of rules or customs may become law and regulatory legislation may be introduced to formalise or enforce the convention (e. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Legislation (or " Statutory law " is law which has been promulgated (or " Enacted quot by a Legislature or other Governing g. laws which determine which side of the road vehicles must be driven). A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places. In a social context, a convention may retain the character of an "unwritten" law of custom (e. Definition In the absence of agreement about its meaning the term "social" is used in many different senses referring among other things to attitudes g. the manner in which people greet each other, such as by shaking each other's hands).
In physical sciences, numerical values (such as constants, quantities, or scales of measurement) are called conventional if they do not represent a measured property of nature, but originate in a convention, for example an average of many measurements, agreed between the scientists working with these values. Physical science is an encompassing term for the branches of Natural science and Science that study non-living systems in contrast to the biological sciences
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General
A convention is a rule or a selection from among two or more alternatives, where the rule or alternative is agreed upon among participants. Often the word refers to unwritten customs shared throughout a community. For instance, it is conventional in many societies that strangers being introduced shake hands. Some conventions are explicitly legislated; for example, it is conventional in the United States and in Germany that motorists drive on the right side of the road, whereas in England, Australia and Barbados they drive on the left. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Right-hand traffic and left-hand traffic mean regulations requiring all traffic to keep either to the left or the right side of the Road. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Barbados ( Portuguese word for bearded-ones, bɑrˈbeɪdoʊz -dɒs situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent Island nation The extent to which justice is conventional (as opposed to natural or objective) is historically an important debate among philosophers. JUSTICE is a Human rights and law reform organisation based in the United Kingdom. Philosophical naturalism has been described in various ways In its broadest and strongest sense naturalism is the metaphysical position that "nature is all there is Objectivity is both an important and very difficult concept to pin down in philosophy Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language
The nature of conventions has raised long-lasting philosophical discussion. Quine, Davidson and David Lewis published influential writings on the subject. Willard Van Orman Quine (June 25 1908 Akron, Ohio &ndash December 25 2000 (known to intimates as "Van" Donald Herbert Davidson ( March 6, 1917 &ndash August 30, 2003) was an American Philosopher, who served as Slusser David Kellogg Lewis ( September 28, 1941 &ndash October 14, 2001) is considered to have been one of the leading philosophers of the latter Lewis's account of convention received an extended critique in Margaret Gilbert's On Social Facts (1989), where an alternative account is offered. Margaret Gilbert is a Philosopher best known for her work in the philosophy of social science and more specifically for her founding contributions to the analytic philosophy Another view of convention comes from Ruth Millikan's Language: A Biological Model (2005), once more against Lewis. Ruth Garrett Millikan (born 1933 is a well-known American Philosopher of biology, psychology, and language.
Customary or social conventions
Social
In sociology a social rule refers to any social convention commonly adhered to in a society. A reversed map, also known as an Upside-Down map or South-Up map, is a World map that generally shows Australia and New Zealand Social norms have been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values beliefs attitudes and behaviors Norms are sentences or sentence meanings with practical i e action-oriented (rather than descriptive explanatory or expressive import the most common of which Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" A society is a Population of Humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive Culture and Institutions These rules are not written in law or otherwise formalized. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society In social constructionism there is a great focus on social rules. Social constructionism and social constructivism are sociological and psychological theories of Knowledge that consider how social phenomena develop in It is argued that these rules are socially constructed, that these rules act upon every member of a society, but at the same time, are re-produced by the individuals.
Sociologists representing symbolic interactionism argue that social rules are created through the interaction between the members of a society. Symbolic interactionism is a major sociological perspective that is influential in many areas of the discipline The focus on active interaction highlights the fluid, shifting character of social rules. These are specific to the social context, in particular time and space. That means a social rule changes over time within the same society. What was acceptable in the past may no longer be the case. Similarly, rules differ across space: what is acceptable in one society may not be so in another.
Social rules reflect what is acceptable or normal behaviour in any situation. Michel Foucault's concept of discourse is closely related to social rules as it offers a possible explanation how these rules are shaped and change. Michel Foucault ( (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984 was a French philosopher, Historian, Intellectual, Critic and Sociologist. Discourse (L discursus, "running to and from" means either "written or spoken communication or debate" or "a formal discussion It is the social rules that tell people what is normal behaviour for any specific category. Thus, social rules tell a woman how to behave in a womanly manner, and a man, how to be manly. Other such rules are as follows:
- strangers being introduced shake hands, as in Western societies, but
- bow toward each other, in Korea, Japan and China
- do not bow at each other, in the Jewish tradition
- in the US, eye contact, a nod of the head toward each other, and a smile, with no bowing; the palm of the hand faces sideways, neither upward nor downward, in a business handshake. Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National
- present business cards to each other, in business meetings
- in Japan, removal of dark eyeglasses when meeting, as dark eyeglasses indicate association with the underworld.
- click heels together, in past eras of Western history
- a woman's curtsey, in some societies
- in the Mideast, never displaying the sole of the foot toward another, as this would be seen as a grave insult. A curtsey (also spelled curtsy) is a traditional gesture of greeting in which a woman bends her knees while bowing her head
- In many schools, even though seats for students are not assigned they are still "claimed" by certain kids, and sitting in someone else's seat is considered an insult
Others
There are generic conventions which are very closely tied to a particular artistic genre, and may even help to define what that genre is. A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set Other conventions that may simply be expectations are:
- paintings are rectangular or square
- stock devices (a comedy ends with a marriage, but a cowboy film can end with the hero riding off into the sunset)
- Mathematical notation follows the order of operations
Government
In government, convention is a set of unwritten rules which the participants in the government are expected to follow. Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and A cowboy is an animal Herder who tends Cattle on Ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback and often performs a multitude of See also Table of mathematical symbols Mathematical notation is used in Mathematics, and throughout the Physical sciences, Engineering In Algebra and Computer programming, when a number or expression is both preceded and followed by a Binary operation, a rule is required for which operation For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. These rules can be ignored only if justification is clear, or can be provided. Otherwise, consequences are sure to follow. Consequences may include ignoring some other convention that has until now been followed. According to the traditional doctrine (Dicey), conventions cannot be enforced in courts, because they are non-legal sets of rules. Convention is particularly important in the United Kingdom and other governments using the Westminster System of government (e. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Westminster system is a democratic Parliamentary system of Government modelled after the British government (the Parliament of the United g. Canada and Australia) where many of the rules of government are unwritten. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics.
International law
The term convention is also used in international law to refer to certain formal statements of principle such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child. International law is the term commonly used for referring to the system of implicit and explicit agreements that bind together nation-states in adherence to recognized values and standards International law is the term commonly used for referring to the system of implicit and explicit agreements that bind together nation-states in adherence to recognized values and standards The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, often referred to as CRC or UNCRC, is an international convention setting out the civil political Conventions are adopted by international bodies such as the International Labour Organization and the United Nations. The International Labour Organization The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security Conventions so adopted usually apply only to countries that ratify them, and do not automatically apply to member states of such bodies. These conventions are generally seen as having the force of international treaties for the ratifying countries. A Treaty is an agreement under International law entered into by actors in international law namely States and International organizations. The best known of these are perhaps the several Geneva Conventions. The Geneva Conventions consist of four Treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland, that set the standards for International law for humanitarian
External links
- Rescorla, Michael (2007) Convention, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP is a freely-accessible Online encyclopedia of Philosophy maintained by Stanford University.
- Law-Ref.org, an index of important international conventions.
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