infonet-economy

I define and classify moral (or altruistic) behaviour and discuss the necessity of moral behaviour for the functioning of a market economic and a democratic political order. I also evaluate claims that moral behaviour is unnecessary. Moral behaviour can only be stable if certain conditions hold, including most importantly that moral requirements for citizens not be too high; only a minimum standard of morality can be demanded if many citizens are expected to comply. Finally, I point to some problems of relying on moral behaviour.