metanormativity
Metanormativity is a term used in philosophy to denote the study of normative standards themselves—the norms that govern our evaluation of norms. It concerns the status, justification, and authority of normative claims: what counts as a legitimate norm, what reasons are required to endorse a norm, and who may authorize or reform normative systems. In practice, metanormativity distinguishes object-level norms (such as “one ought not lie”) from meta-level norms about how those norms are chosen, justified, or revised.
Key questions include: what grounds normative force (truth, reasons, social conventions, or rational agreement)? How do
The topic intersects with metaethics, political philosophy, law, and feminist and critical theory. It is used
Critics argue that metanormativity can be highly abstract or distract from concrete normative issues, while proponents