ABSTRACT

What is valued by family and friends, by the society and its government to which we belong, and ultimately by mankind, is protected by means of written law and unwritten custom. The things people most value, the values truly shared, are the foundation upon which society rests and which the individual and the institutions are expected to respect. Individual and institutional actors are considered legitimate as long as they act within the boundaries of law and custom. Actors who violate these shared values are subject to sanctions proportionate to the violation. The ultimate sanction for the individual is ostracism, for in many ancient, early modem, and contemporary societies the expulsion of the individual from society, which involved loss of all property and loss of all contact with spouse, children, extended family, and so forth, was considered far worse than capital punishment. The ultimate sanction for the institution is the overthrow of those who govern abusively.