Altruism Essay Sample

Essay on altruism

In first look these terms, the philosophical perspectives of altruism and egoism appear to be entirely different from each other. The message embodied by these two words do not complement each other instead they are in contrast. In case of altruism, one can give answers of ethical morality by stating that \I must act for the benefit and concern others.\" On the contrary egoism proposes\"I must act in light of my interests.\" hence how can demonstrations of my interests be considered a manifestation of the benefit of others? Therefore these two terms are different and do not propagate the same meaning or philosophical direction. When individual’s needs come into conflict with that of others then such person consider their interests as opposed to that of the public. This explains why altruism revolves around the idea that the best way to live is for the benefit of others. This is contrasted by the egoism which opines that people need to live to their best as opposed to that of others. When someone strives to live a life that pleases himself the chances are the consideration of external party is nullified. Satisfying your interests extends beyond interests of other people. And this is how egoism views life at its best. If you look at the nature of work that is done by the first line soldiers in war zone they are facing a high risk of death. However because of they are fighting for the sake of the country and citizens they place their lives in crossfire with one goal of winning for the nation and bring respect to the people of their homeland. In any case these soldiers put their interests before that of others; they wouldn’t accept to go to war and leave their families behind. Let’s consider another example of the leaders stealing money meant for large projects aimed to help the entire community. The project stalls and the society suffer while individual leader pockets millions of dollars. These two scenarios explain distinct differences between these the ethical views. In most cases egoism is what dominates naturally over altruism. The two moral terms may coincide at some point but one thing that remains imperative is to note that altruism echoes the voice of selfless while egoism voices selfishness. There is no way one term can be used to infer the other. The way people act is dependent on the personal needs. These actions may be committed consciously or subconsciously. Take for example of an infant who always does what impresses him or her. They are naturally acting egoism and at the time such child cannot reason beyond their own needs. Therefore having explained this there is no way satisfying oneself can be compared to gratifying the desires of others. Altruism is a philosophical view of “I” versus egoism is a voice of “them.” They may have limited relationship which cannot qualify a chance to be referenced to mean the other. Hence altruism is not a form of egoism and these two elements are used in explaining contrasting concepts.

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