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Defending the principle of Altruism

Tags: altruism

Again, I was reading through my textbook and it came up with an argument against Altruism. For those who don’t know, altruism is the ethical standpoint whereby you put other’s interests before your own. The argument, paraphrased from the philosopher Ayn Rand, is that altruism is self destructive, as from the moment you’re born, you’re looking to sacrifice yourself for others. It’s not how to live your life, but how to give it up for others. As such, altruism is inherently suicidal.

The textbook gives a half baked defence, stating that altruism is ok if tempered with egoistic principles. That is, an extreme of altruism is unlikely anyway, so why attack it?

Well, I do believe in altruism, so I’m going to defend it against this attack. Living your life for the betterment of others isn’t always a pleasant experience, but it is a rewarding one. I’ve often given up money for friends when I knew I shouldn’t have, woken up in the middle of the night to pick people up when I really needed the sleep, helped others with assignments when I should’ve been doing my own. These are all examples of altruistic actions that require some level of self sacrifice. So what then is my defence against the suicidal implications of altruism?
Mostly, that if I died, I would then be incapable of helping others. Questions of an afterlife aside, it is a requirement of altruism that one stays alive long enough to help their fellow humans and animals. Also, the extreme self sacrifice of one’s own life would likely mar the psychology of the recipient of one’s altruism. How would you feel if someone needlessly gave up their life for you?

The focus of altruism isn’t on the self anyway. Rand is incorrect in saying that altruism is suicidal and self sacrificing, because the impetus is on the recipient of altruistic principles, not the proponent of them. The altruist isn’t thinking, “How can I sacrifice myself?” but rather, “How can I help someone?”

I hope these arguments go some way to defending my position. If anyone has refutations, please email me or leave a comment. I’ll be more than happy to address them.



This post first appeared on Metaxis, please read the originial post: here

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Defending the principle of Altruism

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