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Addresses the impact of morally motivated conduct on market outcomes. It is contended that morality performs a deeply ambivalent function in market results. It can be a social mechanism that assists the surmounting of market failure, but it can also have strikingly negative consequences. Several shapes in which morality enters markets are distinguished & analyzed, especially in terms of the particular effects of each mode. K. Coddon

The question of whether specific universal moral principles are sufficient to sustain a form of nationalism that condemns war crimes & collective wrongdoing is addressed. Nationalism is criticized for demanding citizens' loyalty to a particular political program, regardless of that system's infliction of discrimination or suffering upon certain groups. Consequently, a notion of nationalism founded on the principles of moral universalism is advocated because it necessitates condemnation of war crimes & collective wrongdoing. Moreover, a universalist nationalism can facilitate minority groups' pursuit of self-respect & political interests while encouraging nationalists to engage in cosmopolitan projects. Conversely, an understanding of nationalism that rests on the foundation of humane particularism is rejected because its conception of equality is arbitrary & prompts nationalist groups to realize their self-interests above those of minority groups. People who advocate a humane particularist nationalism are urged to adopt a universalist nationalist perspective. J. W. Parker

Considers the notions of markets as a remedy for the precise dilemmas they have ostensibly induced in the normative constitution of modern society, with particular focus on the Marquis de Condorcet & Joseph Schumpeter, as well as on such recent neoliberal critics as Friedrich Hayek. The dialectical history of markets indicates that the freedom of market agents, stressed by antagonists to the moral economic theories of Condorcet & Schumpeter, has always been chimerical. The distributed essence of the market tends to deflect attempts to hold others responsible for one's own circumstances, as each trader merely attends to her own interests & assumes the same of others. Systemic effects, though widespread & repetitive, thus seem simply unlucky accidents. K. Coddon

"Besides monitoring and threatening taxpayers with penalties, the cultivation of their attitudes towards taxation is a topic of immediate interest. The importance of tax morality, meaning taxpayers' honesty in taxation, has been confirmed in current research. However, this is nothing new. In 1927 the economist and sociologist Otto Veit published a fiscal sociological study on this very topic. Veit suggests an extensive economic approach of studying tax morality which is thoroughly based on philosophical and contemporary sociological concepts. In his approach, tax morality is an endogenous variable which depends on the behaviour of the individuals concerned. These individuals are tax legislators, tax administrators, and taxpayers. Tax morality is influenced not only by the technical design of a tax system and by law enforcement, e.g. monitoring, whistle blowing, and punishment, but also by social, political, and cultural factors. In this article, Veit and his work on tax morality are presented. Firstly, Veit will be introduced as a fiscal sociologist. Then, his approach of studying tax morality and its philosophical and sociological foundation will be explained. Finally, conformity with Schmölders' approach in the 1950s and 1960s and with very current research on tax morality will be demonstrated. It is the basic message of this article that some of Veit's ideas are of immediate relevance and worth making use of." (author's abstract)

An exploration of state violence in Brazil draws on interviews conducted in 1993 with 14 police officers who had engaged in torture &/or murder during Brazil's military period, including Sergio, a Sao Paulo official whose four decades of police service covered years in intelligence. The various branches of Brazil's civil & military police forces are described. Sergio's emphatic denial of personally carrying out torture & his contention that the bad behavior of police officers can be controlled by rational officials illustrates the complex moral assumptions involved. He justified torture carried out under his command by suggesting that it was acceptable if it was controlled by a competent police official &/or performed for a "just cause," such as saving a child's life. Four key explanations came out in interviewee accounts of torture in which they participated: diffusing responsibility to other official bodies; blaming victims or perpetrators; citing just causes for the actions; & citing professional imperatives. The relationship of discursive content to societal conditions is discussed. Excerpts from the interviews are included. 1 Table. J. Lindroth

An exploration of state violence in Brazil draws on interviews conducted in 1993 with 14 police officers who had engaged in torture &/or murder during Brazil's military period, including Sergio, a Sao Paulo official whose four decades of police service covered years in intelligence. The various branches of Brazil's civil & military police forces are described. Sergio's emphatic denial of personally carrying out torture & his contention that the bad behavior of police officers can be controlled by rational officials illustrates the complex moral assumptions involved. He justified torture carried out under his command by suggesting that it was acceptable if it was controlled by a competent police official &/or performed for a "just cause," such as saving a child's life. Four key explanations came out in interviewee accounts of torture in which they participated: diffusing responsibility to other official bodies; blaming victims or perpetrators; citing just causes for the actions; & citing professional imperatives. The relationship of discursive content to societal conditions is discussed. Excerpts from the interviews are included. 1 Table. J. Lindroth

Contends that the matters overlooked by standard economics are significant, not trivial, determinants of personal well-being. An exploration of human behavior grounded in "standard economics" is prone to fostering, in the wealthy countries of the EU or North America, prescriptions for economic policy whose ramifications will gradually undermine the sense of community & reciprocity that upholds the moral foundation on which market economic systems are based. It is demonstrated via comparing such countries as the US & France or Germany that insecurity & overwork serve to erode, on average, well-being by more than the worth of any increase in market production, eroding as well the community bonds that nurture the norms of morality underlying market processes. Figures. K. Coddon

Nontraditional forms of civil society in the US are discussed using the example of Mormon morality, exchange, & gift-giving. In the Western tradition, civil society has been historically defined as a contractual relationship between the private realm & the state mediated by the ideologies of capitalism & individualism. However, it is argued that noncapitalist & nonindividualistic forms of civil society exist both within & outside of the West. Mormon moral doctrines regarding family life & gift-giving deny self-interest, thereby creating a form of civil society that deviates from the traditional Western model. Through work, Mormons are made part of the community, & both work & community are regarded as virtues. Therefore, civil society is grounded in virtue & mortality, rather than monetary exchange. This undermines the capitalist state's primary form of interaction with its citizens (through money) & creates social distance between the state & the Mormon community. It is concluded that civil society need not be built on the premises of capitalism & individualism. 16 References. T. Sevier