Common Practices. Thomas Aquinas on Consuetudo and the Foundations of Normativity

September 29th-30th, 2025

Department of Legal Sciences - University of Udine (Italy)

Keynote Speakers:

Tom Angier (University of Cape Town, South Africa)

Luca Gili (University of Chieti, Italy, and University of Vilnius, Lithuania)

Tobias Hoffmann (Sorbonne University, Paris, France)

Matteo Negro (University of Catania, Italy)

Paul O’Grady (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)

Thérèse Scarpelli Cory (University of Notre Dame, USA)

Andrea Tabarroni (University of Udine, Italy)

Call For Abstracts

We are pleased to announce a call for abstracts for the international conference entitled Common Practices: Thomas Aquinas on the Notion of Consuetudo and the Foundations of Normativity, to be held at the University of Udine (Italy), on September 29th and 30th, 2025. 

Candidates are invited to submit abstracts and CVs by June 30th, 2025; decisions will be made by July 15th, 2025.

The notion of consuetudo – as well as related notions referring to what, in English, we would call “custom” – plays a pivotal role in the thought of Thomas Aquinas: it refers to habits of individuals that have a social dimension, since they result from the embeddedness of individuals in shared practices that shape their behaviour at all levels of agency (from the passions to intellectual levels). Consuetudines have a biconditional relation with common practices: common practices shape the habits of individuals, but they subsist to the extent that (most of the) individuals of a certain group have certain habits. Shared practices can acquire normative force and even the status of laws: they must be considered in any account of normativity. Finally, according to Aquinas, consuetudines play important roles in all fields of philosophy: metaphysics, philosophy of language, logic, theory of knowledge, theory of action, political philosophy, philosophy of law, and, most notably, ethics.

“Things which are customary become natural. Hence a habit, which disposes us in a way similar to nature, is also acquired by customary activity. And from the fact that someone has some special sort of nature or special kind of habit, he has a definite relationship to one thing or another. But in every kind of cognition there must be a definite relationship between the knower and the object of cognition. Therefore, to the extent that natures and habits differ, there are diverse kinds of cognition. For we see that there are innate first principles in men because of their human nature, and that what is proper to some special virtue appears good to one who has this habit of virtue; and, again, that something appears palatable to the sense of taste because of its disposition. Therefore, since custom produces a habit which is similar to nature, it follows that what is customary is better known”.

[Aquinas, Thomas, Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics, II, lecture 5]

The notion of consuetudo is relevant for many current debates in which Aquinas’s thought is very influential: debates on virtue ethics, natural law theory, theories of justice, political authority, action theory, practical reasoning, logic, epistemology, social ontology, etc. Surprisingly, however, Aquinas’s notion of consuetudo has not yet been investigated in depth, considering its role across different fields of philosophy. The goal of this conference is to contribute to developing studies in this direction.

This conference aims also at reconsidering the relevance that a better understanding of Aquinas’s theory of consuetudo can have in current debates, not only in the above mentioned areas of contemporary philosophy in which Aquinas’s thinking exercises an explicit influence, but also in fields of philosophy and social sciences in which the influence of Aquinas’s is less evident. An example can be practice theory in sociology. That field is founded on the work of social scientists such as Pierre Bourdieu, Anthony Giddens, Andreas Reckwitz, and refers back to the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Scholars in that field emphasize the centrality of shared practices in constituting meaning and social structures. However, standard interpretations of Wittgenstein emphasise strongly constructivist readings of his work. By contrast, the interpreters of Wittgenstein who follow in the footsteps of Elizabeth Anscombe offer alternative, metaphysically and normatively stronger accounts of his views of rule-following and shared practices. As it is well known, Elizabeth Anscombe’s views were deeply influenced by her reading of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas: a better understanding of the role of consuetudo in Aquinas can shed light on Anscombe’s views on practices and on the contributions that they can offer to contemporary practice theory.

“Now just as human reason and will, in practical matters, may be made manifest by speech, so may they be made known by deeds: since seemingly a man chooses as good that which he carries into execution. But it is evident that by human speech, law can be both changed and expounded, in so far as it manifests the interior movement and thought of human reason. Wherefore by actions also, especially if they be repeated, so as to make a custom, law can be changed and expounded; and also something can be established which obtains force of law, in so far as by repeated external actions, the inward movement of the will, and concepts of reason are most effectually declared; for when a thing is done again and again, it seems to proceed from a deliberate judgment of reason. Accordingly, custom has the force of a law, abolishes law, and is the interpreter of law.” 

[Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 97, a. 3]

Topics of interest may include (but are not limited to):

• Consuetudo as a general notion in the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas;
• The role of consuetudo in particular fields of Aquinas’s philosophy (logic, action theory, epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, theory of law, political philosophy, etc.);
• Consuetudo in the Thomistc tradition;
• Consuetudo in Medieval philosophy;
• The political and juridical function of custom in medieval times;
• The possible contribution of the Thomistic conception of consuetudo to contemporary debates in analytical philosophy and in the phenomenological tradition;
• Common good and common practice: Aquinas in conversation with contemporary authors in philosophy (e.g., Ludwig Wittgenstein, Elizabeth Anscombe, Alasdair MacIntyre, Theodore Schatzki, Peter Winch, etc. ) and social sciences (e.g., Pierre Bourdieu, Anthony Giddens, Andreas Reckwitz, etc.).

Format

The event will take place in person at the University of Udine (Italy). 

Conference web page

https://normativity.uniud.it/practices

Submission Guidelines

We welcome proposals from scholars in history of philosophy, philosophy, political theory, legal studies, and social sciences. Abstracts (in English) should not exceed 500 words (including bibliography).

Each submission must include:

• An abstract (PDF, max. 500 words including references);
   
• A short academic CV (PDF).

Submissions should be addressed to: normativity(at)uniud.it
 

Conference organisers:
- Professor Gabriele De Anna, University of Udine;

- Dr Giulia Codognato, University of Udine.

Deadline:June 30th, 2025, 11:59 p.m. Rome time

• Name your files clearly (e.g., Lastname_Abstract.pdf; Lastname_CV.pdf);

• Write the title of the conference in the subject line of the e-mail.

Notification of acceptance:July 15th, 2025
Proposed papers will also be considered for publication in a collected volume.

Further Information:

Further information and updates will be circulated in due course and will be published on the conference page (https://normativity.uniud.it/practices). For any questions, please write to normativity(at)uniud.it.