In a repressive society I might be forced to do things that are wrong against my well even though I know that they're wrong. So some societies can be bad that way. On the other hand, Rousseau and a number of people who followed him could make morality part of the objective function. If you cultivate the habit of giving yourself plotits and rewards for acting well you can actually greatly increase your ability to do that.
Economist and author Michael Munger of Duke University talks about human wants and desires with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Human beings have desires about our desires. Can we change what we want? And how should economists and normal human beings think about doing the right thing, what we often call morality? Is acting morally self-interested behavior or is it possible to act selflessly?