A convention is a social norm that usually has nothing to do with legality.
Conventionalism is the philosophical doctrine that treats principles as conventions . The term can also refer to the behavior or rule that is considered conventional : that is, it conforms to the norms that are accepted by the majority.
As a current of thought, conventionalism focuses on the values, customs and practices that regulate individual behavior and social behavior, indicating that they are not based on an external reality but on the pacts established in a group. The notion has applications in ethics, logic, grammar and law, among other areas.
Conventionalism in philosophy
Conventionalism in philosophy holds that the theories of science do not arise from the objective universe . On the contrary, they arise from the agreement reached among scientists. According to this position, knowledge lacks content constructed from objectivity.
For conventionalism, although theories are developed from a practice and reveal a specific aspect of reality, it is possible to abstract them from their real basis to use them as instruments. It can be said that the application of conventionalism results in empirical or subjective idealism .
Conventionalism, in this framework, privileges the conceptual over the sensory. According to the Frenchman Henri Poincaré (1854-1912), considered one of the promoters of philosophical conventionalism, there is a conceptual system that makes possible the identification and description of phenomena.
In other words, scientific laws are conventions that make it possible to predict observable facts. Continuing with this line of thought, what is usually called truth is a choice of principles that is made arbitrarily .
Conventions can be based on ancestral customs or common practice.
The notion in linguistics
In the field of linguistics , conventionalism is integrated into the philosophy of language as a line of thought that upholds the independent character of the signifier with respect to the meaning.
While naturalists state that there is no necessary relationship between thought, word and reality, conventionalists allude to the fact that languages arise by convention between people . Thus, the link that is forged between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary .
It should be noted that, in a linguistic sign, the signifier is the aspect that can be perceived (that is, the sensible form), the meaning being the abstract concept that is associated with it. Both (signifier and signified) refer to a reference in the real world.
For conventionalism, the relationship between the sounds articulated in a word and the element to which the term designates is not natural, but artificial and conventional . There is nothing spontaneous that links the word “lake” , for example, with what it names (a body of water).
The rules of courtesy are part of the conventions of a society.
Social conventionalism
A social convention is a rule that must be respected so that coexistence in society is peaceful or so that behavior adjusts to what is considered appropriate in certain circumstances.
These conventions are, therefore, social codes that establish what is appropriate behavior or expected behavior in a certain situation. There is a conventionality since, implicitly or explicitly, the members of a community agree to respect them: whoever does not comply and acts contradicting that cultural code, incurs a fault.
Conventionalisms are associated with conservatism . Conventions of behavior define what criteria must be respected to behave with decorum or decency . Conventionalisms can be related, therefore, to formalisms, labels and manners. They have an implicit social mandate regarding accepted ways, which thus become norms of coexistence or norms of conduct.
If a cultural practice escapes conventions and is not part of the uses and customs of the whole, it can become a taboo that provokes condemnation.
The morality
Morality is made up of the rules , traditions and habits that, in a community, are taken as appropriate or good. That which conforms to morality, therefore, is correct; what is immoral, on the other hand, is incorrect.
Conventions, in this context, suppose a moral code . A social convention has to be respected: whoever fails to comply with it can be repudiated or sanctioned in different ways.
There are general behavioral conventions and more specific ones, such as education conventions, communication conventions, work conventions, and dress conventions. There are even genre conventions and linguistic conventions.
If someone receives a gift and does not say thank you, it violates a convention of education. The person who does not respond to a greeting is also at fault. Of course, these breaches are not harshly or formally punished.
It cannot be overstated that conventions can be modified over time. The dress code that was considered appropriate for going to the beach is not the same today as it was fifty or sixty years ago; The expected behavior of a woman today differs from what was established by the conventions of the last century. This is because social agreements are not immutable , but adapt to the historical moment and evolve with changes in culture.