What is the “balance” between altruism and selfishness
“… If everyone is looking out for number 1 (a common misconception of interpreting both Darwin and Nietzsche) then there is nothing left to go around ... Daniel Rea
… Aristotle:
If, we state the function of man to be a certain kind of life, and this to be an activity or actions of the soul implying a rational principle, and the function of a good man to be the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the appropriate excellence ... human good turns out to be activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, and if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete. (Nicomachean Ethics, I 1098a, 13)
The beginnings of western ethical thought: Even when we change the soul to mind did they attach the supernatural, religious altruistic concepts of “care for thy neighbor” to the budding ideals of ethics or is that a modern Judeo-Christian conception. (Sparta defended Athens from the Persians.) Why? They certainly had no love for Athens. For altruism or because they were the next obvious target - pure selfishness; looking out first and foremost for number one. Why did the Athenians force Socrates to take hemlock? Self preservation of their natural order. Why am I good or ethical? Because I feel good. Why do I altruistically give money to a cause? Because I feel good doing it. Maybe you feel good receiving it, but that is secondary to my feel good. Certainly if we are going to do it we best do it right, in the best most excellent way, lest we waste time and effort and the goal elusive - but why do I do it is the issue. Why did Socrates take the hemlock? He didn’t have to.
Preparing our ethical system for the future: If we put two people, equally matched in a room, one American with western ethical values and one Han Chinese with Sun Tzu and Confucian values and told them to choose a leader between them, who would it be (the art of negotiation and altruistic balance). This is very much apropos to our current and near future world society: Which system of ethics will come out ahead? Should I learn Chinese?
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