Altruistic
Altruism is a term used to describe the selfless love of others (Oxford Dictionary definition), that is to say, the wish that other people find the happiness and generosity expecting nothing in return.
This term is sometimes used in the sense of empathy , or more often in the simple sense of generosity. It may be described by the ethic of reciprocity.
The term altruism can be seen as antithetical to selfishness.
Summary |
The word altruism appears for the first time in 1854 as " positivistic Catechism "of Auguste Comte that is to say during the so-called "religious" of positivism. It means an attitude of devotion, kindness, and even reverence for others , resulting in a feeling of love instinct or thought to another.
The psychoanalyst Argentine Raquel Capurro , also a philosopher by training, describes precisely the conditions under which Auguste Comte developed the "religion" positivist Definition utilitarian In terms of philosophy utilitarianism , an act of "selfless" is an act which seeks to maximize the benefit of others, while the profit or loss for the author is not taken into account (there or not). We can also define an altruistic act as an act that seeks to maximize the benefit of everyone. If there are n people in total, the relative importance of the interests of the perpetrator is 1 / n. When n becomes large, the interest of one who performs the act becomes infinitesimal. The previous definition is the limiting case when n tends to infinity. The notion of altruism is closely related to Dharma , that is to say, the teachings of Buddha. For example, according to Buddhist mythology, Buddha, to allow a mother to feed her hungry tiger small, to cut a flap of his own flesh. Mathieu Ricard is developing a clear explanation of the concept of altruism in terms of Tibetan Buddhist . He distinguishes the notion of pleasure , that of the euphoria and finally that of happiness. True happiness is a balance that is in the openness to others: it is thus not carried away by the ups and downs that come to us personally. In practice Tibetan Buddhism , the notion of altruism is largely developed, very specifically, as a foundation of the Enlightenment . These four virtues immeasurable that are: After classification according to various criteria that can take the concept of altruism (called the Spirit of Enlightenment, see Bodhicitta ) Patrul Rimpoche gives the precepts on which it rests. On the one hand, in terms of aspiration : Secondly in terms of commitment, through what is called "the six transcendent virtues (or paramitas ) : The question of the attitude to adopt in relation to others is the love. Love one another as I have loved you (from the speech of the Lord's Supper in the Gospel of John , a sort of testament of Jesus before the crucifixion , see especially Jn 15, 9-17, and chapters 13 to 17 St. John). Attitudes Christian can think of altruism: St. Martin , St. Vincent de Paul , Frederic Ozanam , Abb Pierre , Mother Teresa , Sister Emmanuelle ... These personalities Christian life in their adopted an attitude of charity. One can notice that they have not actually had any children. Two examples will show that Christians have taken radically different decisions depending on the context and their personal situation, which involved the concept of family: WWII : In a concentration camp , Father Maximilian Kolbe asked that executes in place of a father (altruism?): it will be canonized. Maurice Genevoix showed that the testimonies of the First World War have been filtered based on criteria positivists. Other texts of the gospels that relate very well to relationships with others are: Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all thy heart and with all your soul and with all your mind is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself " (Mt 22, 37-39). This command is the culmination of the commandments of the Old Covenant collected by Moses ( Ten Commandments ). "Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me" (Mt 10, 37). This means that the love of God is most important. Do not put the interests of his family above God. However, the next is at the same level as itself. In the tradition of the Church , which was formalized in the history , considering that there are three theological virtues : faith , hope and charity. There are also four cardinal virtues : prudence , temperance, strength, justice. The term altruism is not in the Catechism of the Catholic Church , nor in the vocabulary of priests Catholics. However, there are the words: love , love , social , society , people , choices. For Islam, altruism is one of the greatest virtues is in the nobility of the soul is synonymous with the denial of self for the benefit of another person in need or in a critical poverty, and with the sole desire to please God. Several Qur'anic verses and hadiths (traditions) urge the believer to adorn themselves with such generosity of spirit by submitting to the dictates of God: {And they feed, for the love of the Lord, the poor, the orphan and the captive "We feed you for the love of God we expect from you neither reward nor thanks'} (Surah 76, verse 8-9) {Worship God and not any partners with Him. Do good to (your) father and mother, relatives, orphans, the poor and the neighbor, the neighbor distance, the colleague and the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess: for Allah loveth not, in truth The presumptuous, arrogant,} (Surah 4, Verse 36 of the Quran) Altruism is the highest quality in the love of neighbor, in brotherhood and selflessness. This act of piety is the same: {The righteousness does not consist in turning your faces towards East or West. But it is righteousness to believe in God and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the prophets, gives his wealth, some love may have been, to kinsfolk and to orphans, the needy, the wayfarers and to those seeking to untie aid and yokes, to establish prayer and pay Zakat. And those who keep their commitments when they are incurred, those who are patient in extreme poverty, disease and when the fighting rages, here and the truthful are the God fearing!} (Surah 2, Verse 177 of the Qur'an ) Imam Al Ghazali altruism divided into three levels: - The first is that you consider your neighbor as a servant, that is to say that you give what you do not need. - The second is that you consider your equal, so that you share with him. - The third is that you put your neighbor in a higher level to yours, which means that you start by responding to their needs prior to take care of your own requirements. These are the three degrees of altruism, everyone can choose how they want to reach knowing God says: "You could not reach the (true) righteousness unless you spend of what you value. Everything you spend, Allah knows it well. "(Surah 3, Verse 92 of the Koran). And Muhammad said: "Nobody is really thinking that when he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. " Altruism may reach levels as incomparable self-sacrifice and his life in the consent and joy. A compelling example of selflessly given to us by the companions of Muhammad {People who had not left their homes and had converted, welcomed with love those who emigrated to them and they have developed no inclination for what has been given to these emigrants, on the contrary, they were going to prefer them to themselves despite their poverty. Blessed are those who maintain the stinginess} (Surah 59, Verse 9 of the Quran) And it is reported that at the Battle of Yarmuk in 636, Ibn Abi Jahl Ikrima was among the wounded. His cousin, who belonged to the nursing staff, saw and ran towards him. He leaned toward him to give to drink, but at the same time, Ikrima heard a wounded man beside him, asked to drink. He told his cousin: Give him a drink first. But no sooner had he approached the glass from the mouth of a third wounded man also asked to drink. The man said: "By God I would not drink before him." The cousin of a wounded and went to another and each refused to drink and pointed to his neighbor saying he was more thirsty because his injuries were more serious, until he came back he found Ikrima death. Ikrima is what gave his most precious life. But the highest degree of altruism is to refuse to follow his inclinations in favor of the orders of God. Mohammed said: "Nobody is really thinking when his inclination is consistent with what I made" God asks to be very friendly with parents: {We have enjoined on man An ethics in religions? We see that it is difficult to apply the concept of altruism, without bias some special interests, including moral. Nevertheless it is possible to apply certain criteria ethical , especially when it comes to homework , for example in education, which encourages future generations, and that this is not necessarily inconsistent with religions. Moreover, if a religion is good reward in this world to reward a benefactor in the afterlife is it really altruism or is interested? Before the word altruism itself is created, the possibility of a fully disinterested has been questioned. In this context, the boundaries between the concepts of egoism and altruism may be examined. A fundamental criticism addressed to altruism is that if it brings happiness to the person performing a selfless act, then that benefit him and so it is selfish. Yet the fact of loving to do something is not necessarily inconsistent with an effect or a positive influence on others. Ultimately, this review is to confuse personal happiness has a positive effect on others and personal happiness at the expense of others. In the Foundation of the Metaphysics of Morals , Kant writes that it is never possible to know the motivation of last action. According to Auguste Comte and Littre, altruism comes from the sexual appetite, "growing in complexity and sophistication, can become one of the essential elements of moral sense and the source of the noblest human actions. Bahram Elahi said here that if no action can be perfectly altruistic selfless, because of our earthly dimension, of course, mercantile, it is possible to cultivate in themselves intend to act selflessly. Absolute disinterestedness is an ideal toward which human beings should strive to be able to persevere in ethical practice and acquire the virtues necessary for its moral and spiritual development. The game theory is easily constructed examples where altruism may provide better results for those involved in a situation that selfishness (see the prisoner's dilemma ). On this basis it has been possible to demonstrate that, although the conditions appear to show altruism are relatively low, the benefits of altruism may be great for the individual, while for others the benefits of selfishness can be just as important! It is the result of chance. Yet it is unclear how an attitude that does not examine in depth for an organization, background and interests, both moral , familial, that financial stakeholders , can succeed, which raises the question of the foundations ethical. In a democracy, leaders are elected on a certain period of time (several years). Putting forward an altruistic behavior or at least promise action in the interest of the people is used by many politicians to attain power. But once elected, they are not bound by a contract and therefore are not legally challengeable if they do not follow their promises. A politician who does not take into account the interests of opposing parties could not take any credit. But the question is not so much interest that the methods to achieve the satisfaction of many. Poor business decisions may well be several reasons: It is hoped, however, each election to be in a third case where altruism is shown a sincere intention: such a person's attitude would push for renewed political behavior, inspired by such approaches that of a Gandhi, or that advocated by the "third way" Christian. Altruism is almost unimaginable in the trade. It is incompatible with the profit of a company. Altruism applies to the whole and not to a private interest. The company will seek mainly perennial customer-supplier relationships. For this, there must have earnings for the client and supplier. So these are win-win relationships that promote a limited number of economic agents. However, pressure or consumer choice modes of production for organic , fair trade or environmentally friendly, can curb the blind law of profit. Then, a salesperson could be described as altruistic or selfish, or else as being unselfish altruism meeting others. It is unclear how a parent might be totally disinterested in relation to the future of its children. However, the fact of feeding, give affection and to raise her children are a gift from parents, which reaches its full value when it is done selflessly. The desire that humans, environmentalists or not, may act in a manner consistent with the requirements of environment (see the duties involved in the environmental charter in France, or the Green Charter signed in Australia) leads to situations that may be contrary to the interests of people who take this route. In fact, if individuals undertake, it is in solidarity with their fellows in order to achieve results consistent with interests that are not only financial but also moral: what natural heritage left to her children (generally to future generations), with a view to responsibility in relation to the requirements of sustainable development. Such attitudes can lead to behaviors and philosophies such as consensalism (in the Anglo-Saxon), which does not necessarily take into account all aspects of ethics. The notion of altruism shown its limits, because there are many interests, which certainly are not only financial but also moral (or ethical). Although an altruistic behavior seems a priori to be contradictory to the principles concerning the natural selection , a closer examination of the sociobiology of the mechanisms at work, levels of genetic selection, and expression of individuals shows a behavior that takes into account of others can be "selected" (see kin selection ). And "parochial altruism" was mentioned by Darwin to explain in evolutionary terms the social behavior in humans: This behavior involves altruism, where people act at their expense for members of their group, with an attitude hostile to other groups. For example, a soldier who fights against an enemy risked his life to protect his country of football fans who favor the "intragroup trust" and "defensive aggression" towards other groups. Research shows that this behavior is correlated to the rate of oxytocin brain . On the other hand, seek to maximize the benefit to others assumed to have a good idea, which is often more difficult than theory provides. People do not necessarily have the same preferences as the perpetrator. Altruism requires therefore to develop the empathy. It may be noted, however, that natural selection has favored the emergence of mirror neurons to get to the place of others and learn by imitation. If we generally opposes altruism to egoism , it appears that often the distinction between the two is quite difficult to perceive. Generally, if one postulates the idea of self, we arrive at the conclusion of selfishness. There is a petition of principle of the existence of the ego. To understand the concept of altruism, we must go beyond reflection based on the self and see the interdependence which brings together human beings in particular and life in general. The common perception, that selfishness would correspond to the natural tendency while altruism is the result of a conscious effort, is actually based on the premise of a fundamental opposition between nature and culture and a worldview in which social man is constructed in a struggle against a supposedly selfish primitive animality. These presuppositions (which are based more on a certain interpretation of the principle of natural selection as the principle itself) can not seem to be decisively confirmed, the study of nonhuman species have also occasionally made evidence of conduct inconsistent with the idea of fundamental biological selfishness. Altruism may have a genetic component, the presence of an allele of the COMT gene appears to be associated with a more altruistic behavior . Religious and Ethical Approaches
Mahayana Buddhism
Christianity
Islam
Questions from altruism
Reason for the selfless
Usefulness of altruistic action
Altruism in the human
In geopolitics
In business
In Education
In relation to environmental problems
sociobiological approach
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