Moral Rules and the Moral Sentiments: Toward a Theory of an Optimal Moral System
61 Pages Posted: 20 Dec 2001 Last revised: 29 Sep 2022
There are 2 versions of this paper
Moral Rules and the Moral Sentiments: Toward a Theory of an Optimal Moral System
Date Written: December 2001
Abstract
We examine how moral sanctions and rewards, notably the moral sentiments involving feelings of guilt and virtue, would be employed to govern individuals' behavior if the objective were to maximize social welfare. In our model, we analyze how the optimal use of guilt and virtue is influenced by the nature of the behavior under consideration, the costs of inculcating moral rules, constraints on the capacity to experience guilt and virtue, the fact that guilt and virtue often must be applied to groups of acts rather than be tailored to every conceivable type of act, and the direct effect of feelings of guilt and virtue on individuals' utility. We also consider a number of ways that the model could be extended, discuss the extent to which our analysis is consistent with the observed use of guilt and virtue, and relate our conclusions to longstanding philosophical debates about morality.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Economic Analysis of Welfare Economics, Morality and the Law
-
Any Non-Welfarist Method of Policy Assessment Violates the Pareto Principle: Reply
By Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell
-
Moral Rules and the Moral Sentiments: Toward a Theory of an Optimal Moral System
By Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell
-
Fairness Versus Welfare: Notes on the Pareto Principle, Preferences, and Distributive Justice
By Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell
-
Fairness Versus Welfare: Notes on the Pareto Principle, Preferences, and Distributive Justice
By Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell
-
Principles of Fairness Versus Human Welfare: On the Evaluation of Legal Policy
By Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell
-
The Conflict between Notions of Fairness and the Pareto Principle
By Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell
-
The Conflict between Notions of Fairness and the Pareto Principle
By Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell
-
Any Non-Individualistic Social Welfare Function Violates the Pareto Principle
By Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell