Reward as the Foundation of Ethics: A New Model for Understanding Human Motivation and Conflict Resolution

This essay offers a synthesis and theoretical grounding of the ethical model originally developed in Propositions (Castelluccio, 2017; 2024), proposing a novel framework for interpersonal and socio-political conflict resolution based on the concept of reward as the fundamental motivational and normative axis. Drawing from contemporary neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy, it argues that all human action is ultimately oriented towards subjective reward states—ranging from immediate satisfaction to profound and sustained well-being such as self-esteem, inner freedom, and happiness. The model introduces the notion of high reward states as the ultimate criterion for ethical action and decision-making, and it contends that such states can only emerge within contexts of radical freedom, non-coercion, and respect for individual agency. This ethical paradigm has far-reaching implications for understanding moral dilemmas, designing social institutions, and developing public policies that are truly aligned with human flourishing. By integrating empirical evidence with philosophical insight, the article outlines a realist, objective, naturalistic, rational and pragmatically grounded ethics that avoids both moral relativism and authoritarianism, offering an innovative path for normative thought in the 21st century.