Analytical Philosophies of ‘Custom’: Georg Henrik von Wright and Bruno Celano

In the traditionof analytical philosophy of norms, the subject of custom hasreceived limited attention. This paper seeks to addresswhether the term‘custom’ denotes a univocalphenomenon or encompasses variousnormative phenomena due to its polysemy. To this end, this paper examines the prospectivesofferedby the Finnish philosopher Georg Henrik von Wright and the Italian philosopher of law Bruno Celano. These two analysesoffer distinctresponses to the question: What do we refer to when we say, ‘custom’? Overall, this paper contends that aredefinitionof the nature of customs could not be separated from a preliminary analysis of the uses and the meaning of the term‘custom’, representinga methodological rephrasingof the research at hand.