Altruism and the Indispensability of Motives

In this paper we examine Fehr's notions of "altruism", "strong reciprocity" and "altruistic punishment" and query his ascription of altruism. We suggest that, pace Fehr, altruism cannot be defined behaviourally because the definition of altruism must refer to the m...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAnalyse & Kritik Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 188 - 196
Main Authors Peacock, Mark S., Schefczyk, Michael, Schaber, Peter
Format Trade Publication Article Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Stuttgart Walter de Gruyter GmbH 01.05.2005
Lucius & Lucius
Subjects
Altruism
Behavior
Behavioural psychology
Emotions
Motivation
Philosophy
Rational choice
Reciprocity
Regression analysis
Social research
Social sciences
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:In this paper we examine Fehr's notions of "altruism", "strong reciprocity" and "altruistic punishment" and query his ascription of altruism. We suggest that, pace Fehr, altruism cannot be defined behaviourally because the definition of altruism must refer to the motives of actors. We also advert to certain inconsistencies in Fehr's usage of his terms and we question his explanation of altruism in terms of 'social preferences'.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0171-5860
2365-9858
DOI:10.1515/auk-2005-0111