The ability of the neoclassical paradigm of rational economic behavior to accommodate moral behavior remains controversial. Prima facie, moral motivations can generate behavior that is not profit maximizing or utility maximizing. A primary goal of this paper is to clarify the relationship between moral motivations and the neoclassical paradigm. I trace some of the controversy in this arena to incorrect or misleading formulations of key issues, as in the debates over the necessity of multiple utility representations. Nevertheless, the neoclassical paradigm encounters two major challenges in accommodating moral behavior: actual inconsistencies in behavior due to a lack of coherence in the goals or the rules that govern behavior, and apparent inconsistencies due to the interpretational inadequacies of the neoclassical paradigm. A second goal of this paper is therefore to explore the nature of these challenges and describe some responses to them.
