Week 4 assignment

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Berkeley College *

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HUM-2225

Subject

Philosophy

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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docx

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Uploaded by MasterCrown11882

What can we learn about the positives and negatives of egoistic living versus altruistic living from the show Survivor? Or the book/film The Hunger Games? The show Survivor demonstrates to us in order to thrive in life, both egoism and altruism may be required. Both egoistic and altruistic living go hand in hand. Therefore, I don’t consider living either egoistic or altruistic life has positives or negatives, although people may find egoism and altruism contradicting. An example of this idea is in the tv trailer link provided for this week’s assignment. In the trailer, we encounter egoistic people making comments such as “ I'm actually planning something different from that, so that might benefit me and it's a little sneaky ”. The person making the comment is part of a team and explains to his own teammate he is going to do something that may benefit him more, we can see his egoism displaying. However, the trailer also shows all team members working alongside each other on a deserted island to build shelter, find food, etc., which shows altruism. This implies egoistic people are willing to help others, to a certain extent. That being said, John Locke’s social contract theory about we can’t just live for ourselves alone seems to be precise. The book/movie The Hunger Games demonstrates twelve districts which must produce two players. The twenty-four players must kill each other and survive in the wilderness until only one remains, this would be egoism. When the main character’s younger sister is selected as one of the "players" of their district, the character volunteers to take her sister’s place in the games, this would be true altruism. After hearing about the moral values of Ayn Rand, do you think her call for living selfishly and not altruistically threatens the moral values of America, as the interviewer Mike Wallace suggests? And what would you say are the real moral values of America today that keep our society running as it does? Upon reading chapter 4 and listening to Ayn Rand in the Mike Wallace interview, I don’t consider Ayn’s calling for living selfishly a threat to the moral values of America. I see nothing wrong or unjustified with placing the wants and needs of oneself first, as long we are willing to show kindness, develop compassion, and promote concern for all people. Ayn’s words of “The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone” are absolute. People who are self-empowered and have great self-esteem should apply their skills, competencies, and talents, to create more value for themselves. It is vital for our wellbeing, because if we are in control of our lives, we're more likely to relax and enjoy our time in this life. I feel if you speak negatively to yourself and never speak up for what you need, your self-esteem will likely be low. In today’s America, we might consider differences in upbringing between young male and female. As discussed in class, it might be that females are expected to be altruistic and caring, while males are taught to be independent and self-motivated. And it might be these differences in upbringing that are also dependent on cultural differences, with male and female from different cultures, growing up with different dispositions toward altruism or egoism. The mixture of the different upbringings and cultures is what keeps us running as we currently are today.

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