ABSTRACT
Wehaveverymanydifferentsystemsofbelief,foroursisarapidlychanging,heterogeneoussociety.Aroundusweseeconstantly howdifficultitisfortheprotagonistsofold moralsorbeliefs,ornewmoralsandbeliefs, tomeetinargument.Forbeliefsandmorals, viewedinstituionallyorastheyappearinthe psychesofindividuals,arefullofpreconceptionsandprejudices,andareinvokedin specificsituations,notviewedschematically. Newsituationsareinterpretedbyeachparty intermsofitsownpremises.I f twopoliticians ormoralistscanhardlymeet,itisevenmore difficultforpeopletointegratediversesystems ofideas.AtasummerschooloftheRationalist PressAssociationIheardrationalistsassailsci-
THEmeaningof"norm"ineverydayusageis ambiguous.I t oftenreferstoastatisticalregularity,aswhenwesaythatone'stemperature is"normal"orthatamanwhohasbeensick hasresumedhis"normal"activities.Onthe
FromRobertParis(Ed.),H a n d b o o k o f M o d e r n S o c i o l o g y . Copyright©1964byRandMcNally andCompany.Reprintedbypermissionofthepublisherandtheauthors.JudithBlakeisAssociate ProfessorofDemographyandKingsleyDavisis ProfessorofSociology,bothattheUniversityof California,Berkeley.
