AT

SOCIAL CONSERVATION

169

sistence of the group, but at the protection and the continuity
 of its purposes.!

1Se

al

1y

ch
wat
his
leits

| , ”»
h,
he
er
ite
ior
ms
‘nt
4--h-


ut
In

ormng-



not
~dithe

1 in

lem

Law, Honor, and Morality

Another factor which is important for the preservation
of the group is of a purely subjective character. It manifests
 itself in a feeling of patriotism for the state or city
and of devotion to the family or to the religious community.
 Different from this factor, which remains entirely
subjective, are the elements of morality, honor, and law.
The moral action may derive its force from the freedom
and autonomy of the individual. The individual himself
may give it a specific content. That content has for him,
none the less, an objective aspect. It faces him as a norm
to which his actions should more or less conform. The law,
in a similar fashion, apart from its special organs, faces
the individual as an ideal objectivity which binds him morally,
 but which has none the less a superindividual aspect.
Between these two kinds of norm which contribute to the
social self-preservation lies a third form, honor. Law aims
at objective ends by objective means, morality at subjective
 ends by subjective means, while honor aims at objective
 ends by subjective means.
In the series, morality, honor, and law, each preceding
sphere includes the succeeding sphere, but not the reverse.
The moral imperative commands what honor and law demand.
 The standard of honorable conduct commands what
the law demands. The sphere of law is the least extensive
sphere. Legal regulations apply to the minimum necessary
 for social self-preservation, and for that reason conformity
 is secured by physical restraint. Conformity to
the moral standard has no stronger sanction than that of

OUS

L Soz., pp. 526-31.