ALTRUISM LOST

BY TATIANA DURÁN

SONGS OF SELFISHNESS

See the world through other’s eyes…

Why when we do anything for or with

others lead us to the motive of self-interest?

What’s good for me? Psychological egoism

“every particular affection, benevolence among the rest, is subservient to self-love” BISHOP BUTTLER

“The people we regard as moral are simply selfish in a different way… JOHN STUART MILL

BARRY SCHWARTZ

“evolutionary biology, economics and

behavior theory share a common visionof what it means to be a person… humanbeings are out of pursue self-interest, tosatisfy wants, to maximize utility, orpreference, or profit, or reinforcement, orreproductive fitness. They are greedy,insatiable on the pursuit of want satisfaction”

BIOLOGY

Edward O. Wilson

Altruism = central theoretical problem of sociobiology

Richard Dewkins: “Genes”, not on individuals nor groups. (1)

Robert Trivers

One individual saves another because it increases the probability that the favor will be returned. (2)

Two kinds of human altruism

ECONOMICS AND OTHER SOCIAL

SCIENCES

• Economics is not an assumption

• The first principle of Economics is that every agent is actuated only by self-interest. FRANCIS EDGEWORTH

AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW

There are only three reasons people give

money to charity: direct benefits to the

donor, indirect benefits to the donor, or a

“kantian motive” in which “a donor benefits

neither directly nor indirectly from the

consumption of the charitable good, but

merely from the act of giving…

A person is reliable if and only if it is more

advantageous to him than being unreliable.

• “Altruism” = exchange

• Friendship, social approval, social rewards.

• Give in order to get

• Reciprocity= a way of mobilizing egoistic motivations and channeling them into the maintenance of the social system.

• Sociobiologists: psychology needs what they have to offer (more realistic understanding of human being)

• Michael and Lisa Wallach: Satisfaction of our own needs is what motivate the individual.

• Freud: child altruistic impulses.

PSYCHOLOGY

FR

EU

D An apparent desire to help contributes a reaction formation against one’s real desire, TO HURT. F

RE

UD

/D

AU

GH

TE

R

Altruism people should surrender to real impulses.

JE

AN

BA

KE

R M

ILL

ER Clinicians…

may think they see through to the fact that the woman is serving herself through serving others.

RIGHT OR WRONG

Is this going to work for me?

Psychology has distinctions only

between good and bad forms of

selfishness. ALLAN BLOOM.

EGOISM EGOISM

Behaviorism Learning

theory

The amount of romantic love a person

feels for someone is supposed to be direct

function of the benefits he/she derives from

the relationship.

1.Seeking reward.

2.Avoiding punishment.

3.We find someone’s else

pain distressing.

BEHIND THE APPEAL OF EGOISM

Altruism is only a chimera.

Morality is married to the idea of doing for

oneself.

Ethical egoism

Kant= self-love and morality pull in opposite

directions.

Guilt

You’ve got to start putting yourself

first

Stop feeling guilty

Who are you to judge

another person’s

life?

UTOPIA: ALTRUISTIC PERFECTION OR A

RACE OF SAINTS

• It does each of us an injustice by seeming to put part of human nature beyond our reach

1

• To linger on saintliness communicates the reassuring message that a few larger-than-life characters have become specialists in helping others.

2

• This approach has the effect of turning altruism into an all-or –nothing proposition.

3

CONCLUSIONS

Reducing non-economic issues

has relation with reduce economic

issues.

Bonus/grades.

Ethics pays.