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Putting altruism in context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2003

Joel Sobel
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 [email protected] http://weber.ucsd.edu/~jsobel/

Abstract

I argue that Rachlin's notion of self-control is imprecise and not well suited to the discussion of altruism. Rachlin's broader agenda, to improve collective welfare by identifying behavioral mechanisms that increase altruism, neglects the fact that altruism is neither necessary nor sufficient for desirable social outcomes.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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