D. Heim

An honor system, properly conceived, is not the concrete representation of the wills of a collection of saints - our honest nature writ large. If it were, it would be nothing else than a bizarre superfluity. It is instead the proclamation and legislation of the intentions of a community of persons united in mutual agreement to oppose those inclinations and strategies that they otherwise might give in to and adopt to further their individual ends. The members of groups that create honor systems say: We are, all of us, liars, cheaters, theives, - but we want to live another way. We think we can, with others 'help.' (from Rethinking Honor. J. Thought. 17 (1982):3-6) - D. Heim