It seems that hope springs eternal for the cherished idea that norms (or normative principles) explain actions or regularities in actions. But it also seems that there are many ways of going wrong when taking norms and normative principles as explanatory. The author argues that neither norms nor normative principles—insofar as they are the sort of things with normative force—is explanatory of what is done. He considers the matter using both erotetic and on tic models of explanation. He further considers various understandings of norms.
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