What is Wrong With Altruism?
What is Wrong With Altruism?
© Tatiana Velitchkov
What constitutes earnest altruism? “What if you care more about other people’s lives in proportion to their comfort than you care about your own life in proportion to your own comfort?” Asks Vladimir Nesov in “Circular Altruism vs. Personal Preference.” Altruism is ethical good relative to others and pursuit of good in relation to morality; not as a result of emotive hortative or compassion. However what is the distinction between altruism and compassion? And what is wrong with them?
When the urge to do good to others is as a result of pursuit of ones self gratification, then this is not altruism but egoism. As well, if a person is driven to do good by human instinctive feelings rather than powerful sense of moral obligation, then it means that when such feelings are not in him, there will be no earnest altruism. However, absolute altruism, to the extent that the altruist is unconscious of his self compassion is no good as the person tends to good as a duty rather than acts honestly driven by benefit of others.
Perhaps, the best approach to answer the question of altruism is by looking at its origin. According to T.H. Huxley, every major human faith and philosophy surrounds the truth that the best way to conduct yourself is to do to others what you would wish them to do to you. And so, if the choice is honestly to do good, and is based on moral obligation, that the other person need your “good act” just as you would like of them, then there would be no such question of justification to altruism. However, if you do good out of emotive stimulus, (or as a duty), then it means the drive is absent with the absence of moral obligation.
Q&A: Example of Altruism – YouTube video by PaulMcKeever
Tags: Altruism is ethical good in relation to others and pursuit of good in relation to morality, Q&A: Example of Altruism - YouTube video by PaulMcKeever, What is Wrong With Altruism?, When the urge to do good to others is as a result of pursuit of ones self gratification - then this is not altruism but egoism
December 26th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Dear Tatiana, you hit the nail right on the head with this post. These days many actions are masquerading as being altruistic when in reality they are mere self gratifications.
December 26th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Thank you Hani for your input, and I tend to see the world through the same kind of glasses as yours
And it’s a real pleasure to see you here 
Happy Holidays my friend!
January 1st, 2010 at 10:31 am
great insight and very nice weblog how long did it take you building your blog?
i luv what you done here …visit mine if you want 
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January 6th, 2010 at 12:58 am
Thanks Sherwood for the nice words. As to how long it took? Slowly – slowly, and I started with this blog in April of 2009