Subject:
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Re: Altruism is a bad idea? (was Re: Finally some church/state mingling that I can really get behind!)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 13 Aug 2003 23:49:31 GMT
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Viewed:
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220 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Richie Dulin wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
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And altruism is a bad idea -snip- and is morally wrong,-snip-
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And here I was thinking that “all rights are property rights” was a strange
belief.
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-snip-
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I grant that the assertion that altruism is a bad idea sounds a bit unusual.
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For an act to be altruistic:
- the person (or organization) you are aiding must be unworthy of your
charity
- you cannot get any personal satisfaction or pleasure from giving
the aid
- it’s better if it’s a person that you actively dislike than it be
one that you are related to or friends with.
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Where did that definition come from? Did you make it up by yourself?
It seems to be a very nice definition for your purposes. But wait, you said
“it’s better if...” in there! That’s pretty odd for a system determine if an
act is to be regarded as altruistic.
Merriam-Webster OnLine gives altruism “1.unselfish regard for or devotion to the
welfare of others 2.behavior by an animal that is not beneficial to or may be
harmful to itself but that benefits others of its species”
Nothing about unworthiness there. Unselfishness applies to motive, while no
personal satisfaction applies to outcome. Nothing about it being better if one
doesn’t like the beneficiary.
(Is there a better definition? I’m prepared to accept that M-W is not the best
source (it’s just a convenient one)).
How do you determine if the person (or organization) you are aiding is
unworthy of your charity?
M-W’s definition of charity is concerned with the giver not the recipient.
Worthiness doesn’t seem to come in to it. So you probably need a new definition
of charity as well. And maybe worthiness too.
Also, your definition implies that one cannot dislike one’s relatives. This is
demonstrably untrue, so you might like to fix that part of the definition of
‘altruistic’ along with the “better if” part when you’re making up the new
definitions.
Adieu
Richie Dulin
| | Port Brique
Somewhere in the South Pacifique
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| | Misérable
Building a safer South Pacifique
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