Self-Interest Essay

There are many things in our lives that we take for granted, such as food and clothing that are not accessible to a big portion of the population. This surplus of things that most of us have can easily be given to people who are in dire need of them. Personally, I had an abundance of clothes from when I was younger. They were things I was never going to wear again and were simply being stored, unused. Knowing that, I decided to donate the clothes to an organization that will then donate it to people who need it. My contribution was going to help someone out there in need and that felt significant. Food is also something that a lot of people do not have access to. From my peers, I notice that a

Helping others doesn’t have to be difficult. We know money is an issue throughout life and we can’t just provide everyone with money. But what can that money actually do? Money is traded in for goods and services right, so in theory, we don’t need money to help others, the question is more like what can we do for another. There is always one job out there that can improve our lives; we don’t have to be millionaires to contribute; we just have to try.

Bartel (1976) defines prosocial behaviour as ‘behaviour that intentionally helps or benefits another person’. Batson (1987) defines altruism as ‘helping another person for no reward, and even at some cost to oneself.’ This definition of altruism seemingly depicts the behaviour as selfless, however there is a wealth of research which suggests that this is not the case.

I wasn’t aware of the importance of doing good for others, until recently that I witnessed it with my own eyes. It all started when was at Chicago, a random man helped out a homeless man and bought him some food. I noticed as I was in line that the cashier then gave the helping man a free choice to pick something he wanted due to the action he did. After that day I began to make an attempt at helping out more and being a better person in general.

This philosophy postulates not only that selfishness exists but also that it motivates all our actions – fundamentally, that personal interest is the only reason we help other people. While this seems a problematic conclusion reflecting a reductive vision of human motivations, to quote the philosopher Joel Feinberg, “Empirical evidence of the required sort is seldom presented in support of psychological egoism.” Further, the theory is in principle un-falsifiable and non-scientific; it is an ideology.

If I no what i’m doing I’ll help out.I help out with anything, like for example if I have money & a homeless person ask for money I will help them out & give them like two or three dollars if I have it.I will help anyone out if they ask. I am not selfish. I was raise to be kind to others, no matter they are not. I just can’t sit there & no if somebody in need of help I want help them, I help.

With that being said, the two doubts about altruism being a good thing should be explained. First of all, altruistic acts are not always morally good. Imagine the organ donor being racist and this person wishes to donate or sell their organs, but only to a recipient of their own ethnicity. This person is doing an altruistic act but not a truly moral one. Certainly there are different ways in which an altruistic act could be considered wrong. Here are a couple of examples: The person who is doing the altruist act may be doing damage about

We hear it all the time “it’s better to give than to receive,” from our parents, teachers, preachers, everybody we look up to for guidance and advice, but until you experience it first hand—it’s just words!

     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!

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

Another motive of altruism to gain indirect returns is the egoistic motives. It is suggested by Mandeville (1732), where a person who is in a situation that causes personal distress would behave altruistically to relieve that particular distress.

I didn’t truly understand it at the time, but as I grow older and mature I am beginning to understand more and more. Also, in that same conversation, my father told me about some of the people he works with and works for, and how they give back but often only in the spotlight. They will donate money when the attention is on them, or they will do charity events when the media is involved. Looking back at it, this is a very selfish idea. When do we hit that point in our life where we are so selfish that we can not help others; is it a conscious decision or are we just not aware of our actions? I have seen this same of idea of selfishness in my own experiences. I went to a very wealthy private school, with many students coming very wealthy families. Often these families would donate money to the school, but in return they expected a plaque or they expected something to be named after them, some kind of recognition. Some people will say this is not selfish because they are giving back; however, others will say this is a selfish action because they are only giving looking for a return.

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,

Selfishness surrounds us in everything we do because it is human nature to be selfish. Without selfishness we would not be able to take care of ourselves and ensure that we are fed and all our needs are fulfilled. Many people and the surrounding environment suffer because of selfishness but without it the reality

Most of us assume that some selfishness is healthy, but "too much" selfishness will lead to loneliness and despair. This idea rests on an incorrect definition of selfishness. Selfishness means acting in one's rational self-interest. By " rational" I mean that one can logically prove that an action is in one's self-interest—in the long run as well as the short run.