Eline Gerritsen

Research

Publications

Gerritsen, Eline. “Demystifying Authoritative Normativity”. The Journal of Ethics, forthcoming. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10892-025-09526-8 (open access)

Gerritsen, Eline. “Onconventionele aandacht voor conventionele normen” [unconventional attention for conventional norms]. Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 115, no. 3 (2023): 325-328. https://doi.org/10.5117/ANTW2023.3.020.GERR (open access)

Gerritsen, Eline. “The Second Revolution of Moral Fictionalism”. Ergo 9, no. 20 (2022): 537-555. https://doi.org/10.3998/ergo.2276 (open access)

Work in progress / under review
  • A paper providing a metanormative perspective on a view of social ‘oughts’ in social ontology;
  • A paper exploring social norms as an answer to the now-what question for moral error theory;
  • A paper on obligations to comply with bad social norms;
  • A paper arguing that it is an open question whether social norms are authoritatively normative;
  • A paper arguing that negative legal moralism faces a problem in tackling bad social norms;
  • Blogposts on other topics connected to norms and normativity.
current project (2022-2025)

The Normativity of Conventional Norms

Informal conventional norms regulate many aspects of our lives. They shape our collective and individual behaviour and can be seen as the glue of society. At the same time, these norms can function to maintain an unjust status quo and prevent social progress. It is therefore important to examine to what extent and under what conditions conventional norms form legitimate restrictions on our actions. An account of the normative status of the social rules we live under will both build on and contribute to a fundamental theory of our reasons for action. This project provides a philosophical investigation of conventional norms in two parts. The first aim is to examine whether and how conventional norms provide reasons for action. This research will include a thorough interdisciplinary analysis of the nature and role of these norms. The second aim is to use these insights to develop a comprehensive theory of normativity in general.

This project is funded by the programme “postdoctoral fellowships” within the Excellence Strategy of Universität Hamburg. It is connected to the university’s emerging research field ‘Grounds, Norms, Decisions’.

Read a longer introduction to the project here.

PhD thesis

Demystifying Normativity: Morality, Error Theory, and the Authority of Norms

Download thesis

We are subject to many different norms telling us how to act, from moral norms to etiquette rules and the law. While some norms may simply be ignored, we live under the impression that others matter for what we ought to do. How can we make sense of this normative authority some norms have?

The aim of this thesis is to unravel the mystery of normativity. It uncovers and objects to the influential non-natural conception of it, arguing that we can capture normativity with natural properties. In particular, it explores how the authority of norms can be explained by the commitments of the people subject to them. In connection to this, it challenges the conceptual claim behind the view that all moral judgements are mistaken. Finally, it reveals that treating morality as a mere fiction has revolutionary practical implications. This emphasises the importance of the overall conclusion: we need not conceive of either moral or normative properties as too mysterious to exist.

talks
  • Playing Along with Bad Norms,
    • August 2025, Social Ontology 2025, Trinity College Dublin
    • October 2024, University of Gothenburg
  • Questioning the Normative Status of Social Norms
    • January 2025, Recent Work on Authoritative and Formal Normativity, University of Heidelberg
    • July 2024, Social Ontology 2024, Duke University
    • March 2024, Edinburgh Centre for Legal Theory
    • March 2024, University of Edinburgh, department of Philosophy
    • October 2023, Stockholm University
    • May 2023, Colloquium of institute of Philosophy, Universität Hamburg
  • A Metanormative Perspective on Social Oughts
    • October 2024, Workshop on Social Normativity, Institute for Futures Studies, Stockholm
    • October 2024, University of Gothenburg
  • Morality is Dead, Long Live Social Norms?, December 2023, New Perspectives on the Now What Question for Moral Error Theory, Leiden University
  • Legal Moralism, Mala Prohibita, and Norm Change, July 2023, Collective Decision-Making and Democratic Institutions, Universität Hamburg
  • Authoritative Conventions and the Fugitive Thought
    • April 2023, Third Groningen Metaethics Workshop, University of Groningen
    • February 2023, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
  • Ought Simpliciter and Authoritative Normativity, June 2022, Frankfurt Metaethics Conference, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
  • Conventional Norms: The Blind Spot of Metaethics, May 2022, Utrecht Philosophy Graduate Conference, Utrecht University
  • Demystifying Authoritative Normativity, December 2021, Stockholm Graduate Conference, University of Stockholm
  • Taking Conventions Seriously
    • July 2022, Joint Session, University of St Andrews
    • August 2021, Social Ontology 2021, University of California, San Diego
    • July 2021, Understanding Value X, University of Sheffield
  • Authoritative Normativity and Standard Dependence
    • September 2020, The Unity of Normativity, University of Vienna
    • September 2020, Conference by Women in Philosophy, University of Antwerp
  • Morality and Authoritative Normativity, August 2020, European Congress of Analytic Philosophy, Utrecht University
  • Morality, Authoritative Normativity and Scepticism, May 2020, Normative Rationalism: Moral, Epistemic and Logical, University of Cyprus (cancelled)
  • The Second Revolution of Moral Fictionalism
    • December 2019, Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy Seminar, University of Groningen
    • July 2019, Understanding Value VIII, University of Sheffield
    • June 2019, Conference by Women in Philosophy, University of Groningen
    • June 2019, 10th Braga Meetings on Ethics and Political Philosophy, University of Minho
  • Morality as Norm-Relative: Against the Conceptual Thesis of Moral Error Theory
    • August 2018, Open Minds XIII, University of Manchester
    • July 2018, Understanding Value XII, University of Sheffield