규범으로서의 관행: 분류적 차원의 고찰

Convention is the equilibrium agreed upon by reasonable subjects facing common problems that need coordination or cooperation. A convention in the form of a node or conclusion comes forth-through the process of practical reasoning; it implies a normative order fashioned at least in part through social interaction among the actors, proceeds without explicit consent or agreement, and perpetuates autonomously. Convention is a unique kind of social rule which takes ‘being practiced’ as an ontological ground and gives reason for action. It guides an action of participants on its own mechanism and can generate obligation to obey the norm by providing a shared common sense of acceptable behavior. In this article, the author endeavors to elucidate on the thesis of “Convention as norm” through investigating normativity of conventions on a classificational dimension. The author draws the following conclusions: (1) convention is a special kind of norm, (2) its normative force has a hierarchical order. A qualified, genuine convention in itself gives reason for action, guides the action and can generate a a sense of obligation to follow the action in similar circumstances. The author calls the first ‘reason-giving normativity’ and the latter ‘obligation-generating normativity’. A qualified convention itself obtains this ‘reason-giving normativity’ and its normative force becomes independent without any additional moral considerations. Moreover, the author found the autonomy and morality of convention’s normative force dividing into two dimensions: reason-giving normativity and obligation-generating normativity. Focusing on generating stronger obligation normativity that would satisfy reinforcement conditions, the author critically examined various potential arguments on the establishment of a convention’s normativity. In the conclusion, the author acknowledges the autonomy of reason-giving normativity for conventions and claims that an obligation to obey conventions need to be considered as a multilayered entity. The sources for obligation-generating normativity of a convention convention can be justified by a giving multilayered argument rather than appealing to a unitary argument.