170 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL
good or bad conscience. Honor takes an intermediate position.
 Nonconformity is punished by means which are
neither of a purely subjective character, like moral discomfort,
 nor of a purely external character, like the physical
restraint in the legal sphere. With the formation of an honor
standard protected partially by subjective moral consequences
 and partly by objective social consequences, society
creates a guaranty for an adequate individual behavior in
spheres which lie outside the field of legal provisions and
which cannot be left to individual morality.!
Honor originally refers to a class standard. It sets the
norms for the preservation of smaller circles contained
within a larger group. It preserves both the unified character
 of the social circle and its distinctions from the other
circles within the large inclusive organization. What is
sometimes referred to as human honor in general, or individual
 honor, is an abstraction. There is no human
honor as such. There is family honor, military honor, honor
 among thieves, but no individual honor. Honor is a factor
 in the self-preservation of a group and can be understood
 only as such.?

Concentration and Objectivation of the Social Coherence
an Specral Organs

The factors contributing to the social self-preservation
mentioned thus far were the objectivation of the group
unity in a spatial form, a personal leader, material symbols,
 or in ideal norms. Another important factor is the
objectivation of the group coherence in a special organ
composed of a number of persons. In that case the factor
exhibits in itself a sociological character. It is sociological
not only in function, but also in structure. A religious
L For the formal aspect of these restraints, see also Book II, chapter iii.
* Soz., pp. 532-35.