Introduction

The nature of good social relations

“Hell is the others,” a character of Jean-Paul Sartre says. Paradise may be the others too. The quality of social relations is an essential part of the quality of a society, a basic factor of the happiness, blooming or misery of its members, a widespread cause of the success or failure of its workings, and, indeed, a main consequence of the quality and virtue of the people themselves. The quality of social relations differs widely from one society to the other, and among various segments of a society – a fact that begs for explanation. This quality may also be improved as a result of social organization, or progress in social consciousness or education, and these possibilities of improvement should be understood.

However, the explanation of the quality of social relations raises major puzzles. People often complain about the poor quality or deterioration of social relations, and yet they are their own doing. They would often all benefit from better relations, and yet they fail to improve them. Can the required relations be obtained by exchanges and markets, or are they impaired by such selfish interactions, or, again, does the working of exchanges and markets require some of these good relations in the form of honesty? Do other-regarding conducts require out-and-out altruism, which could explain some insufficiencies, or are some more moderate and balanced social conducts sufficient? For instance, varieties of reciprocities may be relevant, or needed.