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Subject: 
Re: Altruism is a bad idea? (was Re: Finally some church/state mingling that I can really get behind!)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date: 
Thu, 14 Aug 2003 21:06:11 GMT
Viewed: 
480 times
  
Dave Schuler wrote:
  So if someone buys my beat-up '78 Pinto for $40,000.00, then he's given me
$39,999.95 worth of charity?  I don't agree with that, either.  If a price is
set and that price is met, then the price is the price:  no more, no less.
"Worth" or "value" in this case are abstracts that are, in my view, subordinate
to the actual price.  Someone might think he scored a super deal on his
$40,000.00 Pinto purchase, but his assessment is based on his notion of the
car's value.  Once the transaction is complete, the (paid) price is an absolute,
whereas the value remains subjective and abstract.
  Again, it sounds as if you're using a kind of Randian definition (which
doesn't invalidate it, but it's not a definition with which I concur, so I'm not
interested in supporting it).

But if you're saying paying 40k for a 1978 Pinto isn't charity, and that
any exchange where both sides assign a "value" to the exchange, then
altruism or charity can only happen when one side assigns no value
whatsoever to the transaction, which is the definition of altruism Larry
is using.

So how do you define charity and altruism?

Frank



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: Altruism is a bad idea? (was Re: Finally some church/state mingling that I can really get behind
 
(...) Just my 2c Altruism: Carpooling (with some non-car-owners too). Charity: Picking up a hitchhiker (now and then). Best DaveG (21 years ago, 15-Aug-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Altruism is a bad idea? (was Re: Finally some church/state mingling that I can really get behind!)
 
(...) This may simply be a matter of our differing perspectives. If you are a uniquely qualified brain surgeon and you agree perform a highly complex operation for $5.00, then that particular operation is worth (in dollar terms) exactly $5.00. (...) (21 years ago, 14-Aug-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

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