It Takes Effort To Be Selfish Analysis

Altruism, despite the fact that a human conduct, needs extraordinary expressions to convey what needs be on all levels of unselfishness, for example, love and regard, since benevolence is regularly mistaken for any benevolent conduct made by living animals, and we should not utilize this general term to depict specific practices and behaviours.

When answering questions such as why should I be moral or why shouldn't I be selfish does not have a definite answer. It is based on the people around you and your personal culture and traditions.

Philosophers have debated for centuries the question “Are humans are selfish or selfless?” There are two main arguments for debating human nature, ethical egoists and ethical altruists. Ethical egoists believe that “even though we can act in others’ interests because we are concerned for others, we ought always to act in our own interest” (Solomon et al 2012 p. 460). Ethical altruists believe quite the opposite; ethical altruism is the belief that “people ought to act with each other’s interests in mind” (Solomon et al 2012 p. 461). In discussing the four theories, psychological egoism, psychological altruism, ethical egoism, and ethical altruism, with my husband, there was not a clear dividing line for whether humans are selfish or selfless in nature. After much debate, we concluded that humans are born ethical egoists; however, ethical altruists are made through proper training, care, and nurture.

Stephen Kendrick once said, “Almost every sinful action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive. It is the trait we hate in other people but justify in ourselves.” The nature of human selfishness comes in various forms, distinctly different in the eyes of an individual but with similar mindsets. To put differently, there are many definitions defining selfishness, but under the surface, everyone has similar, selfless intentions.

Another example of how altruism can be viewed in today’s society can be seen in the works of Mother Teresa and her plethora of altruistic acts throughout the globe. Although her focus was in India where she persued her novitiate (training), her organization has opened over 500 centers around the world helping the dying and the destitute (Moore 2002, pg. x). She took in the “untouchables” of society and gave them care and made sure that they were comfortable. Mother Teresa is often used as the benchmark when determining whether a selfless act is truly altruistic.

One of the points that was brought up was that donating may potentially cause suffering to one’s self as they work hard for their money. They work hard and strive for what they want (affluence). Working a full time job in order to be broke, unhappy, and struggling like those in Bengal, for example, would be a disgrace and disappointing. Not only that, but people will also bring up the fact that if not everyone in society or in the world donates and gets away with not feeling guilty, so why should they feel obligated to so and contribute their efforts towards something that doesn’t directly affect

     The descriptive claim made by Psychological Egoists is that humans, by nature, are motivated only by self-interest. Any act, no matter how altruistic it may seem on the outside is actually only a disguise for a selfish desire such as recognition, avoiding guilt, reward or sense of personal ‘goodness’ or morality. For example, Mother Teresa is just using the poor for her own long-term spiritual gain. Being a universal claim, it could falter with a single counterexample. And being that I believe this claim to be bunk I will tell you why!

ABSTRACT: Everyone around you behaving selfishly essentially leads to a world of mayhem. Louis C.K. a well known comedian shares his experiences and stories of selfishness and how it affects the world around you whether it may make sense or not. Although he begins to get a bit over bearing as he describes what Gods reaction would be it allows the audience to truly recognize their mistakes and the mistakes of others. By using logo and pathos Louis successfully shares that a world of selfishness is dangerous and not in the common good for everyone. The true solution to selfishness would be to restrain yourself from acting selfish and preventing the world to come to a crazy state.

Altruism, in which one selflessly devotes to the welfare of another without expecting anything in return, often elicits an inexplicable and intangible surge of joy, in which one gains a sense of purpose. For example, I have observed the therapists at PRANA, whom altruistically devote up to an hour, when initially only allotted a half-hour time slot, programming individualized treatments for each patient. In their hour- long treatments, they create a non-fraternizing relationship with their patients that is fully functional on trust, empathy, and generosity. Devoting that extra time to each patient gives not only the

The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand looks in depth at the word selfishness in the perspective of morals. Rand identifies selfishness as a concept of the survival which directly relates to moral issues and whether they are related to good and evil. A new word “altruism” is introduced by Rand to pose two moral questions, “(1) What are values? (2) Who should be the beneficiary of values? (Rand 169).” The selfishness in relation to morals to benefit themselves and not others is the selfishness and thus the concept of justice is inherently ignored. Thus this behavior is cynical toward society and others. Rand explains her position on being selfish if it does not disrupt the concept of “his life by his own effort and neither sacrifices

Batson, C. D. (1991). The Altruism Question: Toward a Social-Psychological Answer. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

In his argument, Hinman (2007) asserts that every action that people engage in is motivated by self-interests or pleasure or direct benefits the agent or to avoid living with guilt in the future. This is the nature of human beings. Even the most altruistic action is in actual sense motivated by the egocentric desire of the actor (Hugh, 1898).

"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)

First, it is important to understand what altruism is. Altruism is any act carried out by an individual in order to benefit another individual. [1, 2] At first glance,

Most of us assume that selfishness is both wrong and unhealthy. But is this true?