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4 - Common Sense Commons

The Case of Commonsensical Social Norms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2021

By
Brett Frischmann
Edited by
Erwin Dekker  and
Pavel Kuchař
Erwin Dekker
Affiliation:
Mercatus Center, George Mason University, Virginia
Pavel Kuchař
Affiliation:
King's College London
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Summary

Common sense is fundamental to humanity in two different but related ways. First, it is a basic capability essential to human flourishing. It helps us effectively engage with each other and our complex world. Second, it is social knowledge, often situational and contextual. Though easily taken for granted, common sense functions as critical social infrastructure that shapes and enables various social systems, including markets. This chapter examines this special type of social infrastructure, exploring common sense in general and focusing on the subset of common sense that also constitutes social norms.

Keywords

Common senseKnowledge CommonsSocial norms
Type
Chapter
Information
Governing Markets as Knowledge Commons , pp. 113 - 132
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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