Can self-interest mimic altruism?
Assuming that agents have a reasonably long time horizon, enlightened self interest may mimic morality. This is essentially the idea of reciprocity or the tit-for-tat strategy. People are better off occasionally helping each other than going it alone because the favor will be returned later, if not by person B, then by C, D or E. He also points out how the punishment/reward mechanisms used by other people can induce altruistic behavior. Comment: There seems to be a theme here. Like the experiments of Batson, Elster says that when altruistic behavior occurs when no one else is looking, and therefore, when others are unable to punish or reward such behavior, it is likely to spring from altruistic motivations. Therefore, experiments designed to test this hypothesis must be double-blind.
