170 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL 
good or bad conscience. Honor takes an intermediate posi- 
tion. Nonconformity is punished by means which are 
neither of a purely subjective character, like moral discom- 
fort, 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 conse- 
quences 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 char- 
acter 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 in- 
dividual honor, is an abstraction. There is no human 
honor as such. There is family honor, military honor, hon- 
or among thieves, but no individual honor. Honor is a fac- 
tor in the self-preservation of a group and can be under- 
stood 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 sym- 
bols, 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.