88:2 April 2005
Conformism 

Advisory Editor: Francisco Gil-White, University of Pennsylvania

This issue of The Monist is devoted to the phenomenon of conformism. It will focus especially on the effects of conformism on social processes, which have been brought to light in recent years through game-theoretic analyses (summarized here). It matters little whether we drive on the right, or on the left, but it matters greatly that we all drive on the same side. All sorts of social interactions are likewise maximally beneficial when the players involved share the same signaling system and expectations. Conformism allows us to profit from the convergence upon solutions reached by those who have gone before through trial-and-error learning, by allowing us to simply copy their solutions. It allows us also to maximize the number of our potential interactants by adopting the interactional norms that are most common in the local population. Conformism is thus adaptive; it saves us time in learning and it improves our chances of reproductive (and other types of) success. But conformism also has its price: it will tend to sustain even suboptimal patterns of behavior.

Issues to be dealt with may include: How do conformist processes help to determine social (including ethnic) boundaries and how do they contribute to the associated phenomena of ethnic prejudice and xenophobia? What is the role of conformism in our susceptibility to propaganda? Can a better understanding of conformism lead to institutional improvements in the organization of modern democratic societies that may mitigate the negative effects of silent majorities remaining quiescent in the face of political activity by extremists?

Table of Contents:

Francisco J. Gil-White

How Conformism Creates Ethnicity Creates Conformism

(and Why This Matters to Lots of Things)

Richard H. McAdams

Conformity to Inegalitarian Conventions and Norms: The Relevance of Coordination and Esteem

Brian Skyrms

Dynamics of Conformist Bias

Patrick Colm Hogan

Dissenting Identities, or: The Radical Conformist’s Guide to Non-Conformism

Aaron Preston

Conformism in Analytic Philosophy: On Shaping Philosophical Boundaries and Prejudices