Coerced morality

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If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.

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Coerced morality is the idea that ethics can spring from some force, either physical or mental. Law seeks to create a form of coerced morality, in that a citizen will decide to obey the law, not because of their inherent rightness and the value of morality, but for fear of the consequences. Similarly, religious laws are a form of coerced morality if obeyed only for fear of consequences, such as Heaven or Hell, and not out of personal love for [[God].

Since coerced morality secures adhesion merely out of fear or hope, rather than inherent belief in the normative qualities of morality, coerced morality is a secondary tier of ethics, and someone who is good only out of coercion cannot be said to have resolved personal ethical issues. Nonetheless a form of coercive morality is almost always necessary to a steady state society.