How Should Rule-following Behaviors be Described?

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  • 「ルールに従うこと」はいかにして記述されるか
  • 「ルールに従うこと」はいかにして記述されるか : サールの外在的記述と初期ロールズの内在的記述の差異について
  • 「 ルール ニ シタガウ コト 」 ワ イカニ シテ キジュツ サレル カ : サール ノ ガイザイテキ キジュツ ト ショキ ロールズ ノ ナイザイテキ キジュツ ノ サイ ニ ツイテ
  • Difference between Searle’s Internal and Rawls’ External Descriptions of Rule Following
  • サールの外在的記述と初期ロールズの内在的記述の差異について

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Many sociologists and social theorists have argued that rule-following behaviors are the fundamental building blocks of social reality. The core issue has always been whether rule-following behaviors can be described as causally determined by the formulation of rules. In this paper, I examine Searle’s “philosophy of society,” which comprises the most elaborate causal view of rule following, and compare it with Rawls’ practical view of rule following. In doing so, I argue that the causal view of rule following cannot be sustained. Searle introduced the distinction between “constitutive rules” and “regulative rules.” The former refers to rules that “enable” actions and not only regulate them. This distinction is derived from Rawls’ distinction between the “practical” and “summary” views on rules, which was first introduced in his paper, “Two Views on Rules.” However, there is a clear difference between Searle and Rawls’ concepts of rule following. While Searle analyzes the relationship between rules and rule-following behaviors from the viewpoint of causality, Rawls conceives the relationship as a grammatical one. I posit that Searle’s concept of causal rule following is limited, in that it necessarily depends on devices such as “literal meaning” or “background” which are external and irrelevant to the actual practice of rule following. By contrast, Rawls argues that we only need to refer ourselves to the practice of using the rules. Rawls does not rely on any external devices to explicate rule-following behavior. Unless we take a Rawlsian point of view and conceive of the relationship between rules and rule-following behaviors as a grammatical one, we cannot analyze the actual process through which many social practices are organized and managed in society.

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