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Father" in Rome to "the little father" in Moscow. The point I want tomake is that altruistic agitation is supported by a pseudo kinvocabulary (e.g. Holper 1996) as weIl as by metaphysical reciprocityto be more appealing.One likely explanation for the existence of altruistic propaganda isthat it is a technique to manipulate people (Williams 1989); if youmake your fellow man believe that he has to serve others, there aretwo likely beneficiaries - the receiver and the organizer. It is notjustified to see such benefits as a side effect, but much more probableas the driving force. Altruism is hard to explain as a result of naturalselection, but it is a likely product of altruistic agitation. The merepopularity of this agitation for such a long time indicates someeffects or it should have evaporated.If the potential giver is reluctant, the promise of afuture generousreturn might make a sacrifice acceptable. Proponents of altruismfrequently soften their demands of duty by linking them to pseudokin benefits and metaphysical reciprocity. As indicated by Wilson'scomments on Mother Theresa such behavior appears less altruisticbecause it does not reflect a pure altruistic motivation. But judgedaccording to the most important aspect, real world effects" suchbehavior is altruistic. She and others make sacrifices that are notsufficiently rewarded in this life to be rationaI.5 DiscussionIn order to be classified as reciprocity, a behavior has to be shown toinclude a probable payoff, and the reason for making the presentcategorization is to shed light on the possible inclusion of altruism inindirect reciprocity. The conclusion is that reciprocal reputation andinstitlltionalized reciprocity are both strongly linked to reciprocity,whereas the payoffs from generous reputation and metaphysicalreciprocity are questionable. Accordingly, these two categories havea much stronger link to altruism than to reciprocity. A figureillustrates the split.I : 10

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