Editing Convention (norm) (section)

== General ==
A convention is a selection from among two or more alternatives, where the rule or alternative is agreed upon among participants. Often the word refers to unwritten customs shared throughout a community. For instance, it is conventional in many societies that strangers being introduced shake hands. Some conventions are explicitly legislated; for example, it is conventional in the United States and in Germany that motorists [[Left- and right-hand traffic|drive on the right]] side of the road, whereas in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Nepal, India and the United Kingdom motorists drive on the left. The standardization of time is a human convention based on the solar cycle or calendar. The extent to which [[justice]] is conventional (as opposed to [[Naturalism (philosophy)|natural]] or [[Objectivity (philosophy)|objective]]) is historically an important debate among [[philosopher]]s.

The nature of conventions has raised long-lasting philosophical discussion. [[Willard van Orman Quine|Quine]], [[Donald Davidson (philosopher)|Davidson]], and [[David Lewis (philosopher)|David Lewis]] published influential writings on the subject. Lewis's account of convention received an extended critique in [[Margaret Gilbert]]'s ''On Social Facts'' (1989), where an alternative account is offered. Another view of convention comes from [[Ruth Millikan]]'s ''Language:  A Biological Model'' (2005), once more against Lewis.{{example needed|date=August 2018}}

According to David Kalupahana, [[Gotama Buddha|The Buddha]] described conventions—whether linguistic, social, political, moral, ethical, or even religious—as [[Dependent arising|arising dependent]] on specific conditions. According to his paradigm, when conventions are considered absolute realities, they contribute to dogmatism, which in turn leads to conflict. This does not mean that conventions should be absolutely ignored as unreal and therefore useless. Instead, according to Buddhist thought, a wise person adopts a [[Middle Way]] without holding conventions to be ultimate or ignoring them when they are fruitful.<ref>[[David Kalupahana]], ''Nagarjuna: The Philosophy of the Middle Way.'' SUNY Press, 1986, pages 17–18. The author refers specifically to the thought of the Buddha here.</ref>