Altruism
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"Scratch an 'altruist', and watch a 'hypocrite' bleed" --Michael Ghiselin, on human nature. |
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Altruism is selfless concern for the welfare of others. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures, and central to many religious traditions. In English, this idea was often described as the Golden rule of ethics. Some newer philosophies such as egoism have criticized the concept, with writers such as Nietzsche arguing that there is no moral obligation to help others.
Altruism can be distinguished from a feeling of loyalty and duty. Altruism focuses on a motivation to help others or a want to do good without reward, while duty focuses on a moral obligation towards a specific individual (for example, God, a king), a specific organization (for example, a government), or an abstract concept (for example, patriotism etc). Some individuals may feel both altruism and duty, while others may not. Pure altruism is giving without regard to reward or the benefits of recognition.
The concept has a long history in philosophical and ethical thought, and has more recently become a topic for psychologists, sociologists, evolutionary biologists, and ethologists. While ideas about altruism from one field can have an impact on the other fields, the different methods and focuses of these fields lead to different perspectives on altruism.
See also
- Altruism in animals
- Altruria
- Charity (practice)
- Charitable organization
- Effective altruism
- Egotism
- Empathy
- Empathy-altruism
- Family economics
- Gene-centered view of evolution
- Giving Pledge, pledge by Gates, Buffett and others to donate to charity at least half of their wealth
- Inclusive fitness
- Justice (economics)
- Group selection
- Kin selection
- Misanthropy
- Mutual aid
- Philanthropy
- The Power of Half; how a family came to decide to sell its home, so that it could donate half the proceeds to charity
- Prisoner's dilemma
- Prosocial behavior
- Random acts of kindness
- Reciprocal altruism
- Reputation capital
- Reverse commons
- Selfishness
- Social psychology
- Solidarity (sociology)
- Tit for tat