many ethical principles have commonalities with social emotions such as empathy and compassion: they evolved to engender collaboration, and they affect our behavior through rewards and punishments. If we do something mean and feel bad about it afterward, our emotional punishment is meted out directly by our brain chemistry. If we violate ethical principles, on the other hand, society may punish us in more indirect ways such as through informal shaming by our peers or by penalizing us for breaking a law.
