Abstract

The term "fairness," in everyday language, seems to be used in two main ways: to express the idea of a fair division of something, and to express the idea of a fair response to the behavior of other people. This latter, by extension, captures the more general notion of reciprocity. Ernst Fehr refers to reciprocity and conditional cooperation as resulting from the operation of social norms. In this paper I suggest a different framework, recognizing differences between social norms and of moral norms, in terms of both operation and substantive content, and establishing a third category of "quasi-moral norms," comprising norms of reciprocity and of conditional cooperation and bearing both conditional and unconditional aspects. In conclusion, I offer two observations about the social consequences of fairness motivations. First, strategic or self-deceptive charges of unfairness can raise the stakes, create deadlock and prevent compromise. Reactions to perceived unfairness, and anticipation of such reactions, can make the world a better place, but may also generate waste and inefficiency. Second, the conditional motivation of fairness requires some unconditional cooperators to get activated. Once activated, it will pick up not only some who are motivated by the quasi-moral norm of fairness, but also some who are under the sway of social norms. Fairness motivations can make the world a better place, but they need help