Skip to main content

Questions tagged [altruism]

Altruism is the selfless concern for the well being of others.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
2 votes
3 answers
206 views

Is everyone's sense of power always predicated on diminishing that of someone else's? [closed]

Why think that everyone's sense of power always predicated on diminishing that of someone else's, and is it the case? I think the question isn't a trivial "no reason to think it". power ...
user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
431 views

What are the differences between Socialism and Altruism? Why do people confuse socialism with altruism? [closed]

I need to find fundamental differences which separates socialism from altruism. I know that it is easy to confuse socialism with altruism, because socialism demands absolute equality and elimination ...
Michael16's user avatar
  • 113
-1 votes
2 answers
66 views

Can a self-sacrificing altruist (SSA) want to die? [closed]

Can a self-sacrificing altruist (SSA) want to die? Or does it immediately follow that an SSA who wants to die is not an SSA?
user128807's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
68 views

According to contemporary philosophical theoreies, from what is morality derived and what is it for in the context of society?

In Arabic, we have the concept 'ahlak' which is often translated into english as 'moral', but in fact they are not the same, and so following the principle of exegetical neutrality, I shall simply use ...
Ferkan Zeki's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
116 views

How exactly does ethics relate to what appears to be ethical animal behavior?

After listening to Dr. Jordan Peterson's lectures on Psychology of Personality, I found the notion that animal behaviors follow an ethic fascinating. He stipulates that rats will play fight and if the ...
Moobius Strip's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
40 views

Is true Altruism possible? [duplicate]

Is real Altruism even possible? We can argue the giver feels good about themselves after giving. Or that they do it to get points with God. Even the atheist still can feel good about themselves. You ...
Steve237's user avatar
  • 139
0 votes
4 answers
148 views

Is panic a good philosophy?

If something bad happens in the stock market: if no one panics, everyone loses only 10%. if some people panic, everyone loses 25%, except for those that panicked, who don't lose anything. If 100 ...
Ray Butterworth's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
311 views

Can you identify a philosophical argument involving Lifeboats? (Not 'Lifeboat Ethics')

long time since I studied philosophy. I'm trying to remember an argument / thought experiment that went something like, "lifeboats are placed throughout a ship and not just by the wealthy passenger ...
Reverend Speed's user avatar
12 votes
9 answers
2k views

Is altruism a contradiction?

A discussion at work recently involved our CEO (who has a psychology degree and is generally very knowledgable.. I have a lot of respect for his opinion) stating with great confidence that altruism is ...
user2808054's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
727 views

Why is Altruism the default standard of moral and ethical philosophy?

Altruism seems to be the assumed default basis of all proper moral and ethical philosophy. Why is this? Are there any alternative bases for a standard of ethics and morality that might be considered? ...
quaestio e responsum's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
99 views

Is AI the evolution of humanity through suicide of a species; via martyrdom?

We have and are currently in the process of creating, in the image of ourselves, artificial intelligence beings able to process, perform, and memorize beyond our scope. This belief, that a higher than ...
M. Zeal's user avatar
  • 29
2 votes
4 answers
546 views

Altruism as an interpretation of Plato’s Allegory of the cave

The allegory of the cave can be interpreted in many ways, but I’m wondering if anyone would agree that one interpretation would be to overcome being self-centred and become more altruistic ? For ...
ben's user avatar
  • 79
0 votes
1 answer
762 views

Is there anything wrong with this argument against Kantian Ethics?

I am trying to devise an argument against Kantian ethics, but I would like some feedback before I get into it because I don't want to end up just attacking a strawman. First, I utilize Bernard ...
Psychonaut's user avatar
3 votes
8 answers
1k views

Is pure altruism irrational?

I apologize in advance, because I'm trying to get back up to speed in Philosophy, and may butcher terms and possibly, inadvertently for the most part, ask silly questions. I'm defining rational ...
DukeZhou's user avatar
  • 483
1 vote
0 answers
165 views

Do any moral philosophers discuss 'validation'?

Do philosphers of ethics talk about validation? The idea that my life or projects or person have some intrinsic value, specifically not just those that are innate to persons? Maybe my tags seem a ...
user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
151 views

Studies which which explore the relationship between collectivism empathy and individualism

I was recently having a conversation with people about a photograph which was posted depicting a dead man lying on the streets and a queue of people running up to a financial institution right beside ...
FoldedChromatin's user avatar
1 vote
6 answers
7k views

Is Selfishness ethical or unethical? [closed]

I have always seen people first care for themselves and then for others. On the contrary, it doesn't seem wrong as self-interest is indispensable. But is acting for own interest and not caring about ...
user99's user avatar
  • 11
2 votes
3 answers
213 views

Thinking that all individuals pursue "selfish" interest is equivalent to assuming that all random variables have zero covariance

I read that: Thinking that all individuals pursue "selfish" interest is equivalent to assuming that all random variables have zero covariance. -- Nero What does that mean, and what does it have to do ...
BCLC's user avatar
  • 217
2 votes
5 answers
2k views

How does objectivism see altruism during an accident?

As I understand, objectivism is against altruism. If a stranger is drowning in a lake and I know how to swim I can try to help and risk my own life in doing so. The person might cling to me and drown ...
Peter Cornell's user avatar
-1 votes
2 answers
211 views

How much should I give to charity? [closed]

I was amused of not finding this exact question already in the site. I'm not looking for re-inventing the wheel as I suppose this is a well studied question. What are the main known arguments or ...
skina's user avatar
  • 9
2 votes
1 answer
99 views

Game theory: altruistic / selfish voting

In the largest published PDG [prison dilemma game] experiment (Rapoport & Chammah 1965), almost 50 percent of strategy choices were cooperative, and even in experiments using one-shot PDGs, ...
user13547's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
325 views

If there is life, then there is more complex life as well?

Researchers in Switzerland have developed an Altruism algorithm that shows how altruism in a swarm of entities can, over time, evolve and result in more effective swarm behaviour. For an ant colony, ...
draks ...'s user avatar
  • 766
15 votes
13 answers
27k views

Is it possible to be truly selfless or altruistic?

Is it possible for people to actually be selfless? It seems that in many cases where someone is being kind, they are actually performing in a manner that will benefit them. Either the recipient of the ...
E1Suave's user avatar
  • 293