AT 
SOCIAL CONSERVATION 
169 
sistence of the group, but at the protection and the con- 
tinuity of its purposes.! 
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Law, Honor, and Morality 
Another factor which is important for the preservation 
of the group is of a purely subjective character. It mani- 
fests itself in a feeling of patriotism for the state or city 
and of devotion to the family or to the religious commu- 
nity. 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 mor- 
ally, 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 sub- 
jective ends by subjective means, while honor aims at ob- 
jective 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 de- 
mand. 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 neces- 
sary for social self-preservation, and for that reason con- 
formity is secured by physical restraint. Conformity to 
the moral standard has no stronger sanction than that of 
OUS 
L Soz., pp. 526-31.