Examples Of Altruism In The Movie 'The Hobbit'

Acting with an unselfish and benevolent regard towards others isn’t always the easiest thing for one to do and most people have to put in a conscious effort to do it but some people believe that human beings are hard wired to behave altruistically as a primal method of survival. Humans could never

Humans are prenatally motivated to help those around us due to its evolutionary benefits that our species has a better chance of survival if all cooperate. Humans can also be nurtured to exhibit altruistic behavior through good parenting. Although most of the population agrees that altruism benefits society, scientific research has shown that even those who believe they are altruistic are not when they are put in situations which calls for selfless behavior. One phenomena that refutes the claim that most of the population strives for selfless behavior is known as the bystander effect. The bystander effect is when a person feels less responsible for doing selfless acts when they are in an environment of a group of

Tolkien, and throughout the novel the reader can quickly identify it. The author conveys the message that fellowship is very important among the people since things are done efficiently and in a more organized fashion with a higher likelihood of success. The author clearly promotes fellowship and Bilbo’s actions are an example of it. It is also demonstrated through the book that people should learn how to help others without asking anything in return, since this is what true fellowship is about. Throughout the book it is noticeable that people should do everything at their reach to help others and that people should do what they believe do good for everyone not only for themselves, Readers can also learn that being greedy and selfish only brings negative impacts, therefore we should be more generous and kind to the people around us. These are a few of the marvelous morals the author conveys to the

First , Tolkien has a totally different mindset than we do. The positive character traits are being adventurous and being wild minded, and when bilbo accepted the challenge to go to fight the trolls. He went to go get back the treasure that belonged to him and other people that smog stole. He went on this long trip just to get back what’s his. He was very positive about going on this trip. He thinks that tookish side on chapter one to be very positive. These are some things that J.R.R. Tolkien thinks

Altruism is a concept in which the individual sacrifices regard for themselves in the interest of another. The ethics of altruism state that a person should act in a matter where their self-sacrifice yields the greater well being on the whole. To put that statement in the form of a fundamental principle of rightness, an action is right if and only if (and because) the action brings a net-gain of well being to anyone except the individual performing the action. The altruistic mentality of an individual according to this moral theory means that any action that they undertake should be in the interest of others rather than themselves. The ethics of this concept also state that relationships of greater value to the individual carrying out an action should come second in priority to those they have with strangers since the close relationship has a much more meaningful connection to a person’s life. In these situations, the only morally correct way of acting is in the way that defeats the well being of the agent of an action for the sake of others.

Even in nature you see acts of altruism. An example is the meerkat; who participates in a cooperative breeding and feeding, and community guarding. The dominant males and females are the “chosen”, which are allowed to breed

A theory of mind allows for other forms of altruism, reciprocal altruism, in contrast to kin selection (Clegg, 2007) is when the benefit is conveyed on another whom is not a relative and with no guarantee of anything in return. It is a gamble, the altruist must have a theory of mind in order to possess a level of trust that the benefit will be reciprocated and so is therefore a more human trait. This has been studied and observed by evolutionary psychologists using The Prisoner’s Dilemma Game (Clegg, 2007 pg. 147), the most common method used for studying altruism. Similarly with indirect reciprocity, the altruist is not guaranteed a benefit but bases his gesture on the possibility of a gain not from the person who the altruistic act was bestowed upon but from another, such as the wider community, for example, to boost one’s reputation (Clegg, 2007). McAndrew and Farrelly et al used empirical evidence to suggest that one’s reputation has a direct correlation with how attractive they are perceived to be and so therefore could have an influence on reproductive success (as cited in Clegg, 2007). Nedelou and Michod discovered a genetic element for altruism (as cited in Clegg, 2007) and as it has been demonstrated to be universal, it is probable that altruism is an adaptive behaviour.

Benjamin Cardozo has a strong argumentative essay against the idea of altruism. Cardozo’s central claim is if people allow altruism to be practiced in government then they will lose their individualism and their government would eventually collapse. To being his article Cardozo explains how the lower class will always dislike the upper class and that is the reason altruism has been a topic of discussion for centuries. Cardozo then proceeds to explain how the world is driven by self interest. The reason things get accomplished by people is for the reason of self interest. Cardozo explains that altruism would kill the idea of self interest and people would be less likely to be productive. Next Cardozo describes how altruism would make all people poor which would give the illusion that no one was actually poor. Cardozo then goes on to ask the question of how altruism

Altruism is when the actions of a person promote the best consequences for others, yet do not benefit the person who performed the act. Abruzzi and McGandy (2006) explain that Auguste Comte developed the term to support his ethical stance that humans are morally obliged to serve the interests of others,

Altruism refers to the concern for the welfare and well being of others without personal gains or

The Hobbit directed by Peter Jackson is a movie that lets you see how the underdog goes from being small and not noticed to becoming the hero that will bring back hope and save the day. Everyone likes a good underdog story and I for one think that The Hobbit is a perfect example of it. Throughout this movie, it slowly makes the main character Bilbo Baggins more of the light in dark and makes him become more hero like with each passing event. Throughout this movie, the tone helps to bring out the inner heroism and light in Bilbo. In the start of the movie, Bilbo gets 13 uninvited guests that show up and ask him to join them on their mission to take back their home, the Lonely Mountain. This is a very powerful scene with a very serious underlying tone to it. The scene starts off with playful banter and fun throughout the 12 dwarfs but when Thorin Oakenshield arrives the mood gets very serious by how the music changes and the interaction between characters. The music was a big hint in the serious tone since it went from more upbeat and energetic to a softer volume and slowed down a bit. The characters interactions are still friendly with each other but when confronting Bilbo they get more focused. The body language is also stiffer and less carefree when the call for help is talked about. Another scene is where Bilbo's ability to bring out some hope is when the Company has to get back there ponies from 3 mountain trolls. During this scene Bilbo has to bite back is fear of the

Many have defined altruism in a similar context, a special form of helping behaviour that is “an act that is motivated by the desire to benefit another individual rather than oneself” (Hogg &Vaughan, 2008). An altruistic act does not necessarily have a negative or zero value to the actor (Margolis, 1982) but a true altruistic act is detrimental to the actor's fitness and enhances another individual’s fitness, in other words, a selfless act (Batson, 1991). Throughout the evolution of altruism, there have been many controversies about the existence of true altruism. Most theories have argued that it stems from ulterior motives, but does that prove

"We are all here on earth to help others. What I can't figure out is what the others are here for." --W. H. Auden (1)

Why do we show altruism? Social and evolutionary biologists, psychologists, economists and philosophers alike have made many attempts at providing an explanation for altruism. As a result, many opposing theories have developed over the years. In this essay, I will attempt to explain altruism as the presence of an altruistic gene which is selected for by natural selection in terms of kin selection. I will explore evidence supporting this theory, as well as evidence pointing to psychological explanations such as reciprocal altruism, social norms and primitive sympathy.

Altruistic acts are often seen through the benevolent acts of family members express towards each other on a regular basis. Because of the significant amount of genes we share with our kin, the survival of a family is prioritized equally to the survival of the individual. Each member of the family will therefore behave altruistically towards each other, due to the evolutionary drive for survival. The reason that parents behave this altruistically towards their offspring is because “parents (adults) are in a maximally favorable position to dispense inexpensive aid to offspring (eggs) that maximally resembles the parents genetically” (Alexander, 462). Even through altruism is perhaps highest between family members, people also feel more empathetic towards others who possess similar traits, as a large number of genes are share. As altruism “involves a loss of individual fitness, [it] can evolve only by group selection” (Nunney, 228). Therefore, we can see that nature’s force of the survival of the group is a primary driving factor for the appearance of altruism.