Title: What is True Altruism?
Thesis: Judith
Lichtenberg argues in her essay, “Is Pure Altruism Possible”, that true altruism
within a person may be questioned because of kin selection and the
psychological and logical views of egoism, but because helping others is tied
in with one’s values, true altruism may actually exist.
I.
Individuals who are more likely to sacrifice
themselves in order to help someone who share the same genes support the idea
of kin selection
A.
“Selfish gene”
1.
Richard Dawkins says that an individual who
behaves altruistically towards others who share its genes will tend to
reproduce those genes.
B.
Explains altruism better than reciprocal
altruism
1.
Benefiting from helping someone else is not true
altruism
II.
The psychological lure of egoism may be
explained by skepticism within ones self or others.
A.
Kant and Freud’s observations
1.
A person’s true motive may be hidden, even from
themselves
B.
Self interested behavior
1.
Denying the existence of pure altruism
III.
The logical lure of egoism assumes that that altruism
is self-interest but in a subtle way.
A.
Getting satisfaction from what appears to be
self-sacrifice.
1.
Wesley Autrey would have felt guilty if he had
ignored the man who had fallen on the tracks
2.
A doctor who willingly gives up a comfortable
live style in order to help people in remote places.
IV.
People who help others do so because they feel
as they need to and it is the right thing to do.
A.
This is the type of altruism we, as a society,
should encourage.
1.
Being neighborly
2.
Working in soup kitchens
3.
Rescuers
Conclusion:
Lichtenberg
leads her audience to believe that pure altruism may not exist. She does this
by utilizing the points of kin selection and egoism. The doubts in the reader’s
head are demolished when she wraps up her essay by arguing that a person can be
altruistic because of ones identity and values. Some acts of “altruism” may be
questioned, but in the end it is real.
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