Explaining the Normative

"When it comes to producing thought-provoking pieces of academic writing, Stephen Turner is indefatigable. More than this, the quality never slips."
Thesis Eleven

"A very important stimulating addition to current philosophical discussion; it presents arguments every normativist should come to grips with."
Organon

"Turner has done contemporary philosophy and social science a great service by holding up a mirror to some forms of normativism; he has given it the best gift one can: geniunely struggled with it, tried to give it voice, and then said how he feels about it. He has also, in his best moments, helped create a clearing where more fruitful dialogue between normativism and naturalism can take place. Let us wait and see whether those who identify with normativism can come to meet him there."
Human Studies

"Turner's very clear and measured writing can easily underplay the significance of his message, which needs to be taken very seriously by anyone concerned about the future of philosophy and the social sciences."
Times Higher Education Supplement

"This book does to the many overblown claims concerning 'normativity' what Turner previously did against fashionable ideas of 'social practices': throws cold water on extravagant claims made on behalf of norms as a distinctive and unavoidable basis for social inquiry. The real strength of this analysis is the way that Turner shows that the current debates about norms have a long history, the consideration of which is essential to understanding the current discussion for good or ill. The book is certainly the best of its kind and an important contribution."
James Bohman, Saint Louis University

"This is the most systematic discussion of normativity by a social theorist (or philosopher of the social sciences). The argument is forceful and original throughout. Turner brings together considerations from a variety of different fields - philosophy of law, philosophy of the social sciences, philosophy of mind and language, cognitive science - and these different strands re-enforce and strengthen one another. It is particularly intriguing to see how philosophers defending normativity have in many ways 're-invented the normative wheel' that some social theorists have used for a long time. This book should be obligatory reading for philosophers and social scientists alike."
Martin Kusch, University of Vienna