Author: Scotty Hendricks / Source: Big Think
Lifeguards and rescue workers help a migrant woman to shore in Greece. Are they acting out of concern for her, or veiled self-interest? (BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)
We often look up to selfless individuals as paragons of virtue. We remember those who saved others during the Holocaust at great personal risk as saints, we look in awe at those who turn down potential billions on medical patients in favor of keeping the cost of vaccines low, and we praise those who give their lives for others as heroes.
Given how we typically view altruistic people favorably it is easy to understand why many ethical systems and religions would give altruism, the concern for the well-being of others, a place of honor. Jesus Christ preached on altruism frequently, Kant praised it, and we often think of the people who spit on it as monsters.
Which makes the debate over if altruism even exists shocking.
Every philosophy 101 professor has heard the argument before:
- We act as we are motivated to by our desires.
- When we act on our desires, we are seeking the feeling of satisfaction that comes from fulfilling them.
- Since feeling satisfied benefits us, all actions have some level of self-interest to them.
If this argument is correct, then when I do something altruistic, saving a drowning child for example, I am at least partially doing it because I need to fulfill my desire. Because of this, I cannot claim to have been entirely altruistic, if I can say I was altruistic at all!
This position is called psychological egoism and can also be argued for empirically. We can all think of a case where somebody was genuinely motivated by self-interest but tried to write their actions off as being for the greater good.
Proponents of psychological egoism often argue that this is true for everybody; that we all act in our self-interest all the time and only rationalize our actions later.
Are We Hard-Wired for Greed or Empathy? Paul Bloom
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Are We Hard-Wired for Greed or Empathy?
Paul Bloom
Professor of Psychology, Yale University
02:10
Is altruism impossible?
There are two fundamental objections to this argument. The first is that it works a little too well; it is impossible to disprove it empirically.
Imagine for a moment that you are trying to come up with an example of a genuinely altruistic action for a person who subscribes to this idea, they can always devise a secret motive for anybody which make them at least somewhat egotistical. If you say that a person helped a drowning pig out of real concern for the animal, the egoist could say they only did it to soothe their conscience.
If you suggest Jonas Salk really did care about others when he refused to profit off the polio vaccine; the egoist can propose that he only wanted to look good. Since a person just trying to look good by talking seemingly altruistic action wouldn’t admit it, it is impossible to disprove that they have this egotistical motivation.
However, ever since Karl Popper wrote his philosophy of science, falsifiability has been held up as a vital part of any theory. Anything which cannot be proven…
The post Does altruism exist? Science and philosophy weigh in appeared first on FeedBox.