The Social Order as a Normative Order. Reflections on the Plurality of Rules of Conduct

Abstract

This article explores the idea of social order as a fundamentally normative construction. Drawing on philosophy, legal theory, and sociology, it argues that order cannot be reduced to mere coexistence or to the coercive force of the state but must be understood as the fragile balance between values, norms, and institutions. Legal norms occupy a central role due to their institutionalization and state guarantee, yet their legitimacy and effectiveness depend on their consonance with moral, religious, customary, deontological, and technical rules. The study emphasizes that plurality is both the richness and the vulnerability of social order: while diverse systems of regulation complement and enrich one another, they also generate conflicts and contestations. Historical examples and contemporary crises, from the persistence of custom to debates on fundamental rights, from the COVID-19 pandemic to challenges posed by artificial intelligence, illustrate the permanent negotiation between letter and spirit, between coercion and consensus. The conclusion is that social order should be understood not as a fixed state, but as a regulative ideal, constantly reconstructed and reshaped by cultural, political, and technological transformations.