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1. Defining Altruism: What Does It Really Mean?
Altruism, at its core, is acting out of concern for the well-being of others. This motivation contrasts sharply with self-interest or selfishness, where actions are driven primarily by personal gain. In this context, altruism is about benefiting someone else, even if it means some personal sacrifice. Altruistic behavior can be found anywhere. Do you have questions about this? What.edu.vn offers a free platform to get answers and connect with others who share your interests.
1.1. Mixed Motives vs. Pure Altruism
Altruistic actions don’t always require complete self-sacrifice. They can stem from a combination of motives, including some that serve one’s own interests. What’s crucial is that a genuine concern for others is present. Consider a scenario where someone volunteers at a homeless shelter. Their motives might include a desire to help those in need, but also a feeling of personal fulfillment. The act remains altruistic as long as a genuine intention to benefit others exists alongside any self-serving motives. This concept highlights the complexity of human motivation.
If someone acts entirely out of altruistic motives, with absolutely no self-interest involved, it’s considered “pure” altruism. However, pure altruism should not be confused with self-sacrificing behavior. Pure altruism simply means there is no personal gain involved, while self-sacrifice implies a loss for the individual. Think of someone donating anonymously to a charity – they receive no recognition or benefit, but they also don’t experience any loss.
1.2. Self-Sacrifice: Strong and Weak Altruism
Now, let’s examine self-sacrifice. If a person only ever acts in their own best interest, they may still perform actions that benefit others.
For example, they might be polite to their coworkers to maintain a positive work environment, which ultimately benefits them. However, they wouldn’t be considered an altruistic person. True altruism often involves some level of compromise or cooperation, where individuals accept a less favorable outcome for themselves to benefit others.
This leads to two distinctions within altruism:
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Strong Altruism: Acting despite knowing it will involve a personal loss or decrease in well-being.
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Weak Altruism: Acting with the motivation, at least partially, of benefiting others or avoiding harm to them.
Someone who never acts with strong altruism might be seen as lacking in moral character, even if they frequently engage in weak altruism.
1.3. Moral vs. Altruistic Motives
It’s important to differentiate between morally driven actions and altruistic actions. Not everything we do that affects others is necessarily altruistic. Imagine you borrow a book from a friend and promise to return it within a week. Returning the book on time is a moral act driven by your obligation to keep your word. You’re fulfilling a promise, not necessarily acting out of a desire to improve your friend’s well-being.
However, if you give your friend a book as a gift, knowing they’ll enjoy it, that’s an altruistic act. You’re motivated by a desire to benefit them and enhance their happiness. In short, altruism centers on concern for the good of others, specifically their well-being, not just acting rightly towards them. Altruistic acts are often described as charitable, benevolent, or kind.
1.4. Well-Being and Perfection
Altruistic actions are always guided by the agent’s assumptions about another individual’s or group’s well-being. Well-being is a complex concept, and it’s essential to distinguish between:
- What constitutes well-being itself.
- What are the necessary means to achieve it.
Think of breakfast. Cereal, juice, and coffee are components of a typical breakfast, but you also need utensils like spoons, glasses, and mugs to eat it. You can’t have breakfast without the food itself.
Similarly, promoting well-being means fostering the things that constitute it.
Well-being also exists on a spectrum. The more someone possesses the components of well-being, the better off they are. It’s also crucial to distinguish between being good at something (perfectionist value) and having something that is good for oneself (prudential value). Perfectionist value relates to excelling and moving closer to an ideal, while prudential value relates to personal benefit and well-being. Both concepts play a role in altruism. Altruists not only aim to relieve suffering and prevent harm, but also to promote positive benefits and help others flourish.
2. Exploring the Existence of Altruism: Is It Real?
Psychological egoism is a theory claiming that all human actions are ultimately motivated by self-interest. Even when we appear to be helping others, the psychological egoist argues that we’re simply using those actions as a means to our own personal gain. True altruism, according to this view, is non-existent. Do you have questions about this? What.edu.vn can provide a platform to explore this concept further.
2.1. Psychological Egoism: Strong and Weak Versions
Recall the definition of weak altruism: acting at least partially out of a desire to benefit others. Psychological egoism, in its strongest form, rejects even this weak form of altruism. It claims that every action, without exception, is driven by self-interest. Weaker forms of psychological egoism exist, though.
One might admit that we sometimes act with the good of others in mind, but insist that one of our motives is always self-serving. Another might concede that we care about others, but only to the extent that it doesn’t require any personal sacrifice.
2.2. An Empirical Argument for Psychological Egoism
One way to argue for psychological egoism is through observation. Someone might claim that their experience of human nature has led them to believe that people are inherently selfish. The problem with this argument is that it’s based on limited experience. Others can rightfully point out that their own observations suggest a different reality – that people do act altruistically.
Psychological egoists might then turn to experimental evidence, claiming that psychological studies prove that even seemingly altruistic actions are rooted in self-interest. They might argue that experiments demonstrate that people are never purely altruistic, or that they ultimately only care about their own well-being. However, the interpretation of these experiments is often disputed.
Some evidence casts doubt on strong and even weaker forms of psychological egoism, but the debate continues.
2.3. An A Priori Argument for Psychological Egoism
Another approach to defending psychological egoism is through a priori philosophical argument. This means arguing that the theory must be true based on logic and reason, without relying on empirical evidence.
One such argument, drawing inspiration from Plato, might proceed as follows:
- All human action is motivated by desire.
- All desires are fundamentally like hunger.
The idea is that when we’re hungry, we desire food. However, we don’t want the food itself; we want the feeling of satisfaction that comes from eating it. Food is simply a means to an end. If all desires are like hunger, then even seemingly altruistic actions are ultimately driven by a desire for personal satisfaction. Giving a gift, in this view, is motivated by the hunger for the feeling of satisfaction that comes from seeing the recipient happy.
Thus, psychological egoism, in its strongest form, is true.
2.4. Hunger and Desire
The central flaw in the a priori argument for psychological egoism lies in the assumption that all desires are like hunger. Hunger seeks a specific feeling of satisfaction in oneself. But many desires are directed outward. Imagine someone wanting their children to prosper long after they’re gone and taking steps to increase their chances of success. The desire is for their children’s well-being in the future, not for a feeling of satisfaction in the present.
Furthermore, if the individual sacrifices their own resources to benefit their children, it contradicts psychological egoism’s claim that self-sacrifice is impossible.
The premise that all desire is like hunger simply doesn’t fit all cases.
2.5. Desire and Motivation
Even the first premise – that all action is motivated by desire – is questionable. This premise only holds if we have a clear understanding of what “desire” means. If “desire” simply means whatever internal state moves someone to act, then the claim becomes a meaningless tautology: “the internal state that moves us to act is always the internal state that moves us to act.”
In everyday language, we often say “I don’t want to do this, but I think I ought to.” We recognize a duty or obligation that compels us to act against our immediate desires. The psychological egoist might broaden the definition of “desire” to include beliefs about what one ought to do, but then the thesis becomes empty.
The common-sense explanations for helping others often don’t rely on referencing personal desires. Recognizing someone’s need and judging that one ought to help is often sufficient.
2.6. Pure Altruism and Self-Sacrifice
Of the various forms of psychological egoism, the least vulnerable is the claim that altruism is never pure. This suggests that one of our motives is always self-interested when we act. It’s difficult to definitively disprove this claim because our motives are often complex and hidden. However, there’s no strong a priori argument to support it.
The other weak form of psychological egoism – that we never sacrifice our own well-being for others – is also questionable. Again, there’s no a priori argument to support it. It rests on observation, suggesting that while we might do good for others, we only do so when it doesn’t detract from our own well-being. This assumes that self-interest always outweighs any altruistic reasons.
A more plausible view is that people’s motives vary greatly. Some are never altruistic, others are altruistic only when it doesn’t harm them, and still others are willing to sacrifice their well-being to varying degrees for the sake of others.
Characterizing people’s motivations should be based on observing their behavior, not on adhering to a pre-determined theory.
2.7. Does Egoism Exist?
If we question the existence of altruism, we should also question the existence of pure egoism. Can we be sure that whenever we act for our own good, we’re not also doing it for the sake of someone else? The psychological egoist will argue that all our actions are ultimately motivated only by self-interest. But we’ve seen the weakness of that argument.
If we accept the possibility that someone can act only for their own sake, it should be because we observe examples of it in the real world. We must find instances where someone promotes their own good only for their own sake. Even this is difficult, since our actions often have consequences for others, and we generally care about those consequences to some degree. Perhaps our ultimate motivation always includes an other-regarding component.
The denial of altruism should be viewed with as much suspicion as the claim that people never act for their own good. Both are extreme generalizations. The more reasonable assumption is that people sometimes act purely egoistically, sometimes purely altruistically, and often with a mixture of both.
3. Self and Others: Radical Metaphysical Alternatives
Many assume that justifying altruism is more difficult than justifying self-interest, or that self-interest requires no justification at all. The thinking is that because other people are other, we need a reason to care about their well-being, whereas we don’t need a reason to care about our own.
It’s worth examining whether this apparent asymmetry is real or illusory.
One response is that the distinction between self and others is artificial and hinders clear thinking. The inner life of a single “person” undergoes so many changes throughout their life that the differences between them at different ages can be as great as the differences between two distinct individuals. Why shouldn’t saving for one’s retirement be considered altruism rather than self-interest?
Another challenge to the self/other distinction comes from David Hume’s observation that introspection reveals no enduring “self” that is the subject of our experiences. We have sensations, feelings, and thoughts, but no experience of a separate entity having those experiences. This might lead to rejecting the notion of distinct selves and therefore the validity of the altruistic/egoistic motive distinction.
A third possibility is that individual human beings cannot be understood in isolation. We are fundamentally social beings, and each individual is merely a part of a larger social unit. Instead of thinking in terms of self-interest and altruism, we should see ourselves as contributing to the well-being of the community as a whole.
4. Why Care About Others? Exploring the Reasons
Moral philosophy offers radically different answers to the question of why we should care about others. One perspective prioritizes self-interest, suggesting that altruism is valuable because it ultimately benefits us. Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers often took this approach. In contrast, modern approaches emphasize impartiality and impersonality in moral thinking. When making moral decisions, we should remove our personal biases and consider the greater good.
A third perspective, championed by philosophers like David Hume and Adam Smith, emphasizes the role of sympathy, compassion, and personal affection in the moral life. These emotional bonds are incredibly valuable and should not be overlooked in favor of purely rational approaches to morality. Each of these viewpoints sheds light on the complex question of why we should care about others.
4.1. Eudaimonism
The term “eudaimonism” describes the ethical approach common among ancient Greek and Roman philosophers. “Eudaimonia” is a Greek word for the highest good, often translated as happiness, well-being, or flourishing. Aristotle argued that all our actions aim at some good, but these goods exist on a hierarchy. Lower goods are pursued for the sake of higher goals, and so on, until we reach the ultimate goal: eudaimonia.
While Aristotle believed that the common good was superior to the good of a single individual, many scholars believe that ancient philosophers assumed that one’s ultimate goal should be one’s own well-being.
This doesn’t necessarily imply selfishness. Aristotle stressed the importance of loving others for their sake, not treating them as mere means to our own advantage. Friendships are a key ingredient of a good life, and true friendships require valuing the other person’s well-being.
Furthermore, it’s vital to remember the distinction between what constitutes well-being and what merely leads to it. Aristotle believed that well-being comes from the excellent use of our reason and that virtues like justice, courage, and generosity are part of what makes up our good life. When we act justly and generously toward others, we contribute to our own well-being, and we’re also motivated by a desire to benefit them for their sake.
The Aristotelian framework can be criticized for potentially failing to give proper recognition to the interests of others. We should be directly concerned with others, not just indirectly through the benefits it brings to ourselves. However, it’s still valuable to explore the ways in which having altruistic motives can benefit us. Is it good for someone to be a good person? Absolutely.
Ethical virtue involves developing cognitive, emotional, and social skills that we can be proud of.
4.2. Impartial Reason
One modern approach to ethics emphasizes impartial and impersonal reasoning. Moral thinking is not self-centered. We all have biases toward our own interests and the interests of those close to us, but when we think morally, we try to set those aside. We take a “god’s-eye” perspective, asking ourselves what one ought to do, not what would be good for me. We abstract away from our personal perspective and seek solutions that any similarly impartial observer would reach.
This idea can be found in ancient ethics, such as the concept of the political community serving the common good rather than the interests of a particular group.
Utilitarians and consequentialists are examples of those who take this impartial approach. They believe that we should maximize the overall balance of good over bad, without giving any individual’s good greater weight than another’s. Your own well-being is not inherently more important than anyone else’s.
Another way to understand impartiality is that there should be a single set of rules or norms that apply equally to all. When considering what to do in a situation, the standard you use should be the same standard anyone would use.
For example, imagine a lifeguard must choose between saving a group of strangers or saving their friend. The ideal of impartiality doesn’t dictate the choice, but it does require that it makes no difference that the lifeguard is you, and the friend is your friend.
Consequentialists take a more radical view of impartiality, arguing that the lifeguard shouldn’t even consider the fact that one of the groups contains their friend. The well-being of a friend is not inherently more valuable. The lifeguard must choose based solely on which action will produce the greatest overall good.
Consequentialism doesn’t fully recognize the special responsibilities we have toward ourselves and those closest to us. In general, we are expected to take care of ourselves and are given more authority over our own lives than the lives of others. Consequentialism views all adults as equally responsible for the well-being of everyone.
Moral rules, under the weaker interpretation of impartiality, reflect this division of labor. We have a general duty to help others in need, provided that it’s not overly burdensome.
This allows us to balance our self-concern with the appropriate claims of others.
4.3. Nagel and the Impersonal Standpoint
Thomas Nagel offered another conception of impartiality and a novel argument for altruism’s rationality. He challenged both psychological egoism and ethical egoism (the view that we ought to have no direct concern for the good of others). Nagel argued that altruism is a rational requirement. As rational beings, we should view ourselves and others from “the impersonal standpoint.”
This means recognizing ourselves as just one individual among many others, all equally important.
Nagel likened this to the way we should view our future selves. We have a reason to care about our future because the present moment isn’t inherently more important. Similarly, we have a reason to care about other people because the fact that someone is me isn’t inherently more important. Giving greater weight to our own good is as irrational as discounting the future simply because it’s in the future.
From this impersonal perspective, certain principles are ruled out, including egoism and any principle that favors one individual or group over others. All genuine reasons are “agent-neutral,” meaning that if someone has a reason to avoid pain, anyone’s pain is a reason to be avoided.
Nagel faced the challenge of explaining why self-interest isn’t regularly overwhelmed by these agent-neutral reasons. If everyone’s pain imposes a requirement on everyone else, then one person’s pain becomes everyone’s problem. It’s hard to believe that we must choose between ethical egoism and Nagel’s demanding conception of impartiality. The first demands no altruism, the second demands too much.
4.4. Sentimentalism and Fellow Feeling
Some philosophers argue that the approaches discussed so far miss a crucial ingredient in moral motivation: sentiment. These approaches treat altruism as a matter of the head, but it is often a matter of the heart. The consequentialist approach seems to leave no room for the love and friendship we feel for particular individuals, since those sentiments are often at odds with maximizing overall good.
The sentimentalist perspective argues that emotional responses to the good of others can be assessed as appropriate or inappropriate regardless of their causal effect on our actions. Feeling compassion for someone’s suffering is already justified because suffering ought to elicit that response. The help we give is a proper expression of that sentiment. If we feel nothing and offer no help in the face of suffering, the fundamental flaw is our emotional indifference.
The sentimentalist argues that the question, “why should one act for the sake of others?” shouldn’t be answered by appealing to impartiality or well-being. It should be answered by recognizing that the situation of another human being calls forth a certain emotional response, and our help is the proper expression of that sentiment.
5. Kant on Sympathy and Duty
Immanuel Kant offered a complex perspective on the role of sympathy in our interactions with others. He acknowledged that some people are naturally compassionate and find pleasure in spreading joy. While he said they deserve praise and encouragement, he did not consider them to be acting from the highest moral motives. According to Kant, their actions lack “genuine moral worth”.
Kant argued that truly moral actions are those done out of duty, not out of inclination. We must act based on a rational rule that everyone can accept, a rule that dictates that we should help others because it’s morally right to do so. Kant illustrated this with a thought experiment: imagine someone who is naturally sympathetic but then experiences misfortunes that extinguish their feelings for others. If they continue to help others simply because they believe it’s their moral duty, then that is when their actions have “moral worth.”
Kant’s point is that there are situations where it would be morally wrong to refuse to help another person, regardless of our feelings. However, Kant’s view has limitations, since there are many situations where helping others is admirable but not a moral duty.
Consider a novelist who volunteers to read to blind people. She may not have a moral obligation to do so, but her actions are still praiseworthy. She is motivated by a love of books and a desire to share that joy with others. Kant would argue that her actions lack “genuine moral worth” because she acts from inclination rather than duty. But that seems counterintuitive. Her reason for acting is to help others.
According to Kant, the individual who has lost all sympathy and helps others only out of a sense of duty has an exemplary motivation. But even if there is nothing blameworthy in this man’s emotional indifference, it is also true that his relationship with others has been damaged. He cannot respond to them as he should.
6. Sentimentalism Revisited: A Deeper Look
Now, we can examine the ideas associated with “sentimentalism” more closely. Some are more plausible than others. We should accept the idea that our feelings can be assessed as fitting or unfitting, even without considering their impact on our actions. We should care about our children even when we can’t help them. This allows us to acknowledge that sometimes we should suppress our emotions. A nurse in a war zone might be more effective if she limits her compassion. She has a reason to feel compassion, but stronger reasons to remain effective.
It’s also important to recognize that aiding someone in need but doing so in a cold or hostile manner is often a defective response. In addition, some of the most valuable parts of our lives aren’t available through following rules. We don’t fall in love by applying a rule. But that leaves plenty of room for treating people based on rational rules. We need a general policy against torture, and it should be impartial. The same applies to everyday rules about promise-keeping, lying, and theft.
Another issue arises when we consider charitable giving. Suppose someone donates to cancer research because their mother died of cancer. Their gift is an expression of love, but it’s also meant to do good. Utilitarianism struggles to accept this form of altruism since it might not maximize the overall good.
But if we don’t assume utilitarianism, it’s reasonable to choose charities based on sentimental attachments. If friendships matter even if they don’t maximize the good, then sentiment is an appropriate basis for altruism.
This doesn’t mean we should always follow our feelings. Imagine you’re on your way to an important meeting about drowning prevention, and you pass a child who is drowning. Do you save the child or attend the meeting? Your emotions are aroused by the child’s cries, but you know the meeting will save more lives. It would not be implausible to hold that sentiment plays an appropriate role in altruism when it is the expression of a long-term and meaningful bond, but not when it is a short-lived reaction to the cries of a stranger.
7. Conclusion: Navigating the Nuances of Altruism
We have found no reason to doubt that we both can and should be altruistic to some extent. To what extent? Utilitarians and consequentialists have an exact answer to that question: one is to give equal weight to the good of every human being (or every sentient creature), counting oneself as just one small part of that universal good. If that is more altruism than can be required of us, the better alternative is not to retreat to the other extreme (egoism). Rather, how much altruism is appropriate for an individual varies according to that individual’s situation in life.
Altruism is not necessarily admirable. It is to be admired only in circumstances in which it is appropriate to act for another’s sake—and only when what one aims to do for another really does benefit that individual. If one seeks what one takes to be the good of others for their sake, but is mistaken about what is really good for them, one’s action is defective. Altruism is fully admirable only when combined with a correct understanding of well-being.
What is wrong with those who do not care about others for their sake? It could be the case that such individuals are themselves worse off for their lack of altruistic motivation. That is what a eudaimonist must say, and we have not objected to that aspect of eudaimonism. It could also be the case that there is a failure of rationality among those who are never altruistic or insufficiently altruistic. But it should not be assumed that there must be something else that goes awry in those who are not altruistic or not altruistic enough, beyond the fact that when they ought to have cared about some individual other than themselves, they failed to do so.
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