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Information about Altruism (ethics)

The page is about the ethical doctrine. For other uses of the word, see altruism.


Altruism is an ethical doctrine that holds that individuals have a moral obligation to help, serve, or benefit others, if necessary at the sacrifice of self interest. Auguste Comte's version of altruism calls for living for the sake of others. One who holds to either of these ethics is known as an "altruist."

The ethical doctrine of altruism has also been called the ethic of altruism, moralistic altruism, and ethical altruism.

The word "altruism" (French, altruisme, from autrui: "other people", derived from Latin alter: "other") was coined by Auguste Comte, the French founder of positivism, in order to describe the ethical doctrine he supported. He believed that individuals had a moral obligation to renounce self-interest and live for others. Comte says, in his Catechisme Positiviste, that ''"[the] social point of view cannot tolerate the notion of rights, for such notion rests on individualism. We are born under a load of obligations of every kind, to our predecessors, to our successors, to our contemporaries. After our birth these obligations increase or accumulate, for it is some time before we can return any service.... This ["to live for others"], the definitive formula of human morality, gives a direct sanction exclusively to our instincts of benevolence, the common source of happiness and duty. [Man must serve] Humanity, whose we are entirely." [1]

The Catholic Encyclopedia says that for Comte's altruism, "The first principle of morality...is the regulative supremacy of social sympathy over the self-regarding instincts." [2] Author Gabriel Moran, (professor in the department of Humanities and the Social Sciences, New York University) says "The law and duty of life in altruism [for Comte] was summed up in the phrase: Live for others." [3]

Various philosophers define the doctrine in various ways, but all definitions generally revolve around a moral obligation to benefit others or the pronouncement of moral value in serving others rather than oneself. Philosopher C.D. Broad defines altruism as "the doctrine that each of us has a special obligation to benefit others." [4] Philosopher W.G. Maclagan defines it as "a duty to relieve the distress and promote the happiness of our fellows...Altruism is to...maintain quite simply that a man may and should discount altogether his own pleasure or happiness as such when he is deciding what course of action to pursue." [5]

As consequentialist ethics

Altruism is often seen as a form of consequentialism, as it indicates that an action is ethically right if it brings good consequences to others. James Fisher and Bradley Dowdwen, in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, states the altruist dictum as: "An action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone except the agent." Altruism may be seen as similar to utilitarianism, however an essential difference is that the latter prescribes acts that maximize good consequences for all of society, while altruism prescribes maximizing good consequences for everyone except the actor.

Criticism of the doctrine

Friedrich Nietzsche held that the idea that it is virtuous to treat others more important than oneself is degrading and demeaning to the self. He also believed in the idea that others have a higher value than oneself hinders the individual's pursuit of self-development, excellence, and creativity. [6] For Nietzsche altruistic love was fabricated by the weak for the weak. It masks self-poisoning resentment about individual and collective powerlessness. Critics like Roderick Hindery respond that Nietzsche's own assumptions about domination by self-interest and the "will to power" are gratuitous and ideological.

David Kelley, discussing the views of philosopher Ayn Rand, says that "there is no rational ground for asserting that sacrificing yourself in order to serve others is morally superior to pursuing your own (long-term, rational) self-interest. Altruism ultimately depends on non-rational 'rationales,' on mysticism in some form..." Furthermore, he holds that there is a danger of the state enforcing that moral ideal: "If self-sacrifice is an ideal - if service to others is the highest, most honorable course of action - why not force people to act accordingly?" He believes this can ultimately result in the state forcing everyone into a collectivist political system. [7]

See also

References

  1. ^ , Comte, August. Catechisme positiviste (1852) or Catechism of Positivism, tr. R. Congreve, (London: Kegan Paul, 1891)
  2. ^  Catholic Encyclopedia entry on altruism
  3. ^  Moran, Gabriel Christian Religion and National Interests
  4. ^  Cheney, D. R. (Editor), Broad's critical essays in moral philosophy (pp. 283-301). London: Allen & Unwin.
  5. ^  Self and Others: A Defense of Altruism Philosophical Quarterly 4 (1954): pp 109-110.
  6. ^  Leiter, Brian Nietzsche's Moral and Political Philosophy in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2004)

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Ethics (via Latin ethica from the Ancient Greek ἠθική [φιλοσοφία]
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Morality (from the Latin moralitas "manner, character, proper behaviour") has three principal meanings. In its first descriptive usage, morality means a code of conduct held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong,
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An obligation is a requirement to take some course of action. It can be legal or moral. There are also obligations in other normative contexts, such as obligations of etiquette, social obligations, and possibly the In terms of politics, obligations are requirements that are to
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Auguste Comte (full name: Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte; January 17, 1798 – September 5, 1857) was a French thinker who coined the term "sociology."

Life

Comte was born at Montpellier, in southwestern France.
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Auguste Comte (full name: Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte; January 17, 1798 – September 5, 1857) was a French thinker who coined the term "sociology."

Life

Comte was born at Montpellier, in southwestern France.
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Positivism is a philosophy that states that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge, and that such knowledge can only come from positive affirmation of theories through strict scientific method.
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Charlie Dunbar Broad (known as C.D. Broad) (30 December, 1887 - 11 March, 1971) was an English epistemologist, historian of philosophy, philosopher of science, moral philosopher, and writer on the philosophical aspects of psychical research.
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Consequentialism refers to those moral theories which hold that the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action. Thus, on a consequentialist account, a morally right action is an action that produces good consequences.
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Utilitarianism is the ethical doctrine that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome—the ends justify the means.
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Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) (IPA: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈvilhelm ˈniːtʃə]) was a nineteenth-century German philosopher.
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David Kelley (born 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American philosopher and author. He is best known for his advocacy on behalf of Objectivism. He is founder and senior fellow of the Atlas Society (formerly The Objectivist Center, and the Institute for Objectivist Studies).
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Ayn Rand

Born: 1905(1905--00)
St. Petersburg, Russia
Died: March 6 1982 (aged 77)
New York City
Occupation: novelist, philosopher, playwright, screenwriter
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Collectivism is a term used to describe any moral, political, or social outlook, that stresses human interdependence and the importance of a collective, rather than the importance of separate individuals.
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Ethics (via Latin ethica from the Ancient Greek ἠθική [φιλοσοφία]
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Consequentialism refers to those moral theories which hold that the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action. Thus, on a consequentialist account, a morally right action is an action that produces good consequences.
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Utilitarianism is the ethical doctrine that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome—the ends justify the means.
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Ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to do what is in their own self-interest. It is important to distinguish this from psychological egoism, the claim that people can only act in their own interest.
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Egalitarianism (derived from the French word égal, meaning equal or level) is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals from birth. Generally it applies to being held equal under the law, the church, and society at large.
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Agapē (IPA: /ˈægəpiː/[1]) (Gk. αγάπη [aˈɣa.
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Auguste Comte (full name: Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte; January 17, 1798 – September 5, 1857) was a French thinker who coined the term "sociology."

Life

Comte was born at Montpellier, in southwestern France.
..... Click the link for more information.
Charlie Dunbar Broad (known as C.D. Broad) (30 December, 1887 - 11 March, 1971) was an English epistemologist, historian of philosophy, philosopher of science, moral philosopher, and writer on the philosophical aspects of psychical research.
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Brian Leiter (born 1963) is an American professor of law and philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has been teaching since 1995. Before this he taught for two years in the law school at the University of San Diego, and was also a visiting assistant professor of
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