Cristina Bicchieri (2006) advanced a powerful and well-received account of norms. Her work reflects important ways in which philosophical and social scientific reflection on norms can be joined to great advantage. In its empirical richness, her work goes beyond the also important work of Philip Pettit (1990) and by Brennan, Eriksson, Goodin, and Southwood (2013). Bicchieri understands various kinds of norms as rules for which agents have a conditional preference to conform. Such preferences are keyed to various expectations--empirical expectations and normative expectations...This is a fascinating and informative read--one rich in its appreciation for complexities and grounded in concrete engagement with such complexities.
David Henderson, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
'Philosophy isn't useful for changing the world,' parents of philosophy students and Karl Marx tell us (at least about non-Marxist philosophy). Cristina Bicchieri's new book Norms in the Wild provides an impressive antidote against this worry...To sum up, this is a fascinating book, and everyone interested in social norms and social change should read it.
Ulf Hlobil, Metascience