The dialectic of real and ideal in the phenomenology of the normative

Despite being so relevant in our lives, norms are not material objects that can be perceived through our senses and directly interact with the physical world. This raises some questions: Do norms really exist? What is their mode of existence? Are they mere mental objects? If they are mental objects, can we still say that they are real? This paper distinguishes two possible ways of understanding norms as mental objects: (i) as merely psychological phenomena exclusively existing within individuals’ minds, or (ii) as ideal entities, i.e., intentional objects or mental contents that can be the correlates of psychic experiences, whose reality is not reducible, though, to such experiences. These two ways of understanding norms as mental objects provide two complementary methodological approaches, that are both necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the complex reality of legal norms.