Theoretical Analysis of Origin and Relationship between Social Norms and Inequalities

Social norms and social inequalities have been and still are the central concerns of sociology, constituting the subjects of most empirical and theoretical investigations. Based on axiomatic method and thought experiment, a theoretical analysis is conducted in this work to address the chronic issue of the origin and formation of social norms and inequalities. Then, an attempt is made to examine the relationships between these two social facts. The central knowledge claims include the following: (1) Formation of society, as a super group, is the result of the combination of four factors - human reason, sociability, anxiety and uncertainty and individual inefficient performance. Besides the formation of society, social needs such as peace, cooperation, coordination and a common understanding intertwined with certain factors at the individual level, including human needs, expectations and capabilities and limited access to scarce resources, all pave the way for the emergence of social norms. (2) Given the scarce resources and almost unlimited human needs, the interactive effects of four factors, i.e. natural needs, bio-psychological necessities, social needs and ‘chance’, generate various kinds of ‘social inequalities’, each with different empirical tokens and social dynamisms. (3) Social norms and social inequalities have dual effects, i.e. both social ‘goods’ and social ‘bads’. (4) There are reciprocal causalities between these two social facts so that, these circular causalities can either decrease or increase the negative impact of each on the other.