Re: There is No Altruism

From: Tennessee Leeuwenburg (tennessee@tennessee.id.au)
Date: Wed Mar 23 2005 - 16:31:55 MST


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I feel I have something to add to this conversation to speed it to a
close. I am not commenting specifically on the previous posts, because
they have concentrated on a hedonistic or pleasure-principle
utilitarian position, which is only a philosophical starting point.

*Plenty* of people argue against those as descriptions of the way
people work, involving webs of desires, not all of which exist only
consequentially for pleasure.

Altruism in such a system, or even in a hedonistic system, can be
easily defined as the desire that other people's desires are
fulfilled. There's nothing wrong with that as a philosophical position
- - the counterargument relating to motivation is a psychological, not a
philosophical, argument. To say that one is acting altruistically
because one is motivated to act altruistically is to not say anything
at all.

Altruism still exists, still has effects, and is still interesting.
This is a hoary old topic...

Cheers,
- -T
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