Similar to Collin's question, I was wondering if anyone thinks it is possible to completely separate self interest when deciding whether or not to help someone? Does anyone act completely selflessly, or is there always the question of what will happen to me if I help or not?
There is actually a theory of morality development that can actually answer this question. In short, this theory (Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development) says that self-perception, as a factor in making choices, is indicative of a lower level of morality. I don’t mean that we are immoral by thinking about how a decision would make us feel; that’s completely human. However, this theory is divided into six stages of moral development, where stage three describes how an individual bases their decisions on how other people would perceive them afterward, described literally as the “good-boy good-girl” orientation.
ReplyDeleteLet’s use the CPR situation as an example. In this mindset, an individual can reason that most people would not blame them for not helping the victim if he is covered in blood (because diseases and things). Likewise, an individual can reason that people would congratulate them for trying to save someone’s life. Because self-perception is the root of both of these decisions, one could say you’re not acting selflessly but selfishly. Ideally, you would make a moral decision according to Kohlberg’s last stage, one where you make a decision based on principles of your conscience, principles that are unique to you but are still within the teachings of your culture. For example, I think we can all agree that human life is precious. Based on this universal principle that is probably etched in all of our consciences, we would try to save the person in need of CPR.
So yes, I believe we are capable of acting selflessly. Especially since in the
moment, we don’t have the luxury of time to reason this out.
I believe it's very hard to separate the two. Even if you are a selfless person you still have moments where you are thinking what is best for you. I think the difference between a selfish and selfless person is how they choose to respond no matter how they are feeling. Even though they might think of themselves for a second they still choose to help whoever is in need regardless of the outcome. If my loved one was in trouble I would expect someone to at least try and save them and not just sit through worrying about making it worse.
ReplyDeleteI think that that’s a very tough question because regardless of the choice we make, we are still going to be aware on its impact on ourselves. Even if we try to avoid acting in a purely self-interested manner, we are still basing our actions on what we feel would be in our self-interest and then trying to avoid that course of action. I think the only way to act separately from our self-interest is to be aware of what is in our self-interest, but to try to weigh the pros and cons of each course of action in light of that awareness.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that it is possible to completely separate the self interest of any decision. We had talked about this earlier in the year about whether we did good things to make ourselves look good or to actually be nice. I think that this applies to your question as well. I think people may do good things because it is the right thing to do, but everyone thinks of their perception as a result of their actions. No matter what, there is always some underlying self interest that a person acts on. Humans are self-centered by nature and only enter into society for self protection. Beyond that, we don't owe anything to anyone else. This fact makes everyone selfish by nature. Although it may not be a bad thing, everyone is selfish and cannot separate that fact from their decisions.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that we can entirely separate our own self-interest when deciding whether or not to help someone. However, I also do not see this as a fault in our way of thinking. Ayn Rand talks about self-interest in a more positive way that I think would help make my point make more sense. Because our entire human experience is only through our own eyes and through our own mind, our default setting is to think of ourselves. When we choose to help someone, we are thinking of our OWN moral duty and our OWN feelings of solidarity. That is not bad! People acting in their own self-interest which coincides with others' self-interest is a recipe for a community's happiness.
ReplyDeleteI do not think you can act without thinking of how your action will impact you in some way. Even if you are preforming CPR, in some way I think you are thinking in your own personal self-interest. Maybe that interest is that you want to save that person. In the end you are the one who is going to live with your actions, so in way I do not think you cannot consider how you will be impacted because you are the one who has to live with the consequences. When you are trying to save someone’s life though, you do not have the luxury of time to consciously go through all the impacts your action will have on you. Instead you may just have a thought of how you want to help save that person. That is a self-interest of yours is it bad, not necessarily I think. While, we all succumb to peer pressure, though, I do think people can act without having the worry of what people will think of them or how they will be treated. There is a quote that says “What is right is not always popular, but what is popular is not always right.” There may be some situations where you have to consider the options and thoughts of others, for example if the spouse does not want you to treat their spouse or give them medicine, but overall I do not think it is a good idea to try to worry about how others are going to perceive you and your actions. You will end up trying to please too many people and to make the situation worse.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone else had said. I believe that it is impossible to separate self-interest when deciding whether or not to help another person. I also agree with Denis when he says that it is a fault in the way humans think. I believe that there should be situations where we would be willing to give ourselves 100% to another person and help them in a time of need, but that seems to be impossible with the way society works today. Everything is made to benefit oneself and make one's life easier. When helping others, we take into consideration the burden we will put on ourselves and the impact it would have on the other person does not impact our decision as much. I can identify that it is a problem in the way humanity is but I can't come up with a solution to change it because it seems to be the way our entire society runs.
ReplyDelete