Conscience lets society externalize reward costs onto the individual
Evidence
For through his conscience the individual rewards himself for his good deeds; while if he had no conscience, society would probably have to guarantee him this reward somehow by means of law or custom. — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 3300
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
- ADDENDUM: Conscience-as-cheap-reward-mechanism pairs well with the sacrifice article’s theme of how societies minimize the cost of enforcing norms.
Related
- Conscience evolved to supply immediate rewards that bridge the gap to future moral payoffs (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Society cultivates individual morality to cut enforcement costs
#expands(0.95) — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 3299 - Costly sentiments like guilt persist because they confer evolutionary gain
#corroborates(0.82) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 619 - Moral dispositions resist contrary incentives yet people overestimate their behavioral role
#qualifies(0.80) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 216 - Institutional and legal constraints give people strong external incentives to be trustworthy
#contradicts(0.80) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 167 - Hobbesian sanctions produce egoistic macro-motivation to cooperate
#contradicts(0.75) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 195 - Social capital valuable for one activity can harm others.
#complicates(0.72) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 40