...part. Altruism is a pro-social behavior in which helping behavior occurs with no indication of personal benefit. According to Fiske (2010), “altruism describes a motive that makes people help because of genuine concern for others, to increase the welfare of others,” (p. 347). A person acts altruistically when he or she feels empathy for another person and assumes responsibility for helping. Another concept of helping is Egotistic helping, that is the idea that the primary motivator is to decrease one’s own distress and places the decreasing another’s distress as the secondary motivator (Nier, 2009). The existence of true altruism has been a topic of longstanding debate in social psychology. Nier (2009) has provided information concerning both sides of this debate (Nier, 2009). Batson (et. Al, 1981) supports the concept of true altruism stating that individuals help others simply out of a desire to do so. This help earns the individual no reward. The opposing side is presented by Cialdini (et. Al, 1987) concludes that when individuals offer aid to others, they are doing so for a personal gain of some kind. The articles discussed by Nier, (2009) share opinions from experts on both sides of this issue and provide a foundation upon which to base one’s own decision with regard to true altruism. Brief Summary of Both Arguments The article Is Empathic Emotion a Source of Altruistic Motivation? Presented by Batson (et. al, 1981) focuses on whether it is possible to have true altruistic...
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...minds of all individuals. A person’s belief in following that ambition is based solely on them. The term “Altruism” was pioneered by August Comte (1851). He characterized that it meant “Devotion to the welfare of others, based in complete selflessness.” In this definition, it puts forth that Altruism is only possible if, one completely disregarded his or her own needs. Times have changed since Comte coined the term. Our economy is in turmoil. It is becoming more common to see selfish behaviors versus selfless. Does that mean Altruism no longer exists? Humans live on a basis of morals, yet that seems to be strained these days. Many fields of expertise have created theories on the basis of Altruism. There are two main perspectives that have been set forth. Evolutionary Psychologists follow Maynard Smith’s Theory of “Kin Selection” (1963). Smith proposed that altruistic tendencies are passed on through genes of an individual’s offspring. That is why a person is greater inclined to help family over a perfect stranger. The Reciprocal Perspective is another theory that has been examined. It states that a person tends to be helpful to others only on the notion that the helpee will return the favor. If these broad views are true, why are there random people helping strangers? Just recently, a prime example of selfishness was followed by a very great show of true altruism. Adam Lanza brutally took the lives of 20 helpless children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary. The principal...
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...appear on its surface exists genuinely altruistic (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). People who volunteer to work at the local food closet may do so based on a genuine desire to help other people or to assist in alleviating a personal anxiety. I believe altruism exists and will provide a personal example to support this belief. In addition, I will explain further altruism, how it relates to psychology, and to personal, professional, and social responsibilities, and its effect on the future of psychology. Personal Experience Summary My life as I perceive it exists busy; consequently, I reside perpetually behind schedule. However, I do make time to drop food and personal hygiene items off and visit with the managers of the local food bank the first Wednesday of every month. The individuals and families that enter the building are each gracious and grateful for the food and other products offered. I have never witnessed any person display embarrassment for the need for assistance, in fact, I had not thought about that emotion until this assignment. Each person I have encountered either dropping off or in need have resided authentically friendly and appreciative. Genuinely, I do not believe that any person possesses expectations. Consequently, I do believe true altruism exists. The Roles of Altruism Like self-control, altruism exists as a valued temporally extended behavioral system, which may exist cultured and affirmed over a person's lifespan, and does not require an inherited...
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...Altruism and Pro Social Behavior Social Psychology Naomi Jackson Instructor Cheryl V. Browning Upper Iowa University ALTRUISM AND PRO SOCIAL BEHAVIOR One may ask what causes people to jeopardize their own health and well-being to help other people. What is it that inspires individuals to give their time, energy, and money to aid in the betterment of others, even when they receive nothing tangible in return? Altruism involves the unselfish concern for other people. It involves doing things simply out of a desire to help, not because you feel obligated to out of duty, loyalty, or religious. I’ve noticed that everyday life is filled with small acts of altruism, from the person who greets me going into Wal-Mart to the person who gives a generous donation to the march of dimes. Although news stories often focus on a greater scale of altruism, such as a person risking their life to save a child from a burning building that they don’t even know. To giving a generous donation to a local charity. Social Psychologists are interested in understanding why it occurs. Really, what does inspire these acts of kindness? What motivates people to risk their own lives to save a complete stranger? Altruism is one aspect of what Social Psychologists refer to Pro Social behavior. Pro Social behavior refers to any action that benefits other people, no matter what the motive or how the giver benefits from the action. While all altruistic acts are Pro Social...
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...shadows of suspicion and the common moral intuitions. Both are problematic because of “altruism,” or in other words, selflessness. There are two types of altruism. First, the altruistic theory of “kin selection” — doing self-sacrificing acts towards their family members. The second, reciprocal altruism, is the moral sense that prompts human beings to engage in self-sacrificing acts towards non-relatives. Ruse and Wilson might argue that humans evolved with an attitude against murder for convenience. It is not difficult to see how this might be true. A person who kills others...
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...Nihilism and Irrational Egoism believe good and bad do not exist, which allows one to act as they please, never less if in the process you injure an innocent party. Svidrigailov displays this philosophy in saying, “Every man looks out for himself,and he has the happiest life who manages to hoodwink himself best of all…Spare me, my dear, I am a sinful man.” The belief of doing what please you is shown in the words of Svidrigailov in his response that ‘all men look out for themselves’. He shows the faults this philosophy by pointing out that in order to live like this one must be ‘hoodwinked’ or become blinded from the truth. Continually, his choices and actions show this philosophy until Sonya appears in his philosophy and makes it crumble with the truest philosophy. Experiencing and seeing the results of Sonya’s philosophy, Svidrigailov now comes upon a crossroad to which philosophy he should choose. He realizes the meaninglessness of his life and how his choices have molded this lifestyle and that one should always look out for others. He realizes this discovering in saying, “The...
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...The Purchase of Moral Satisfaction ( Richard O. Zerbe Jr. Abstract The debate over whether moral sentiments should be included in normative economic analysis offers the arguments that inclusion is unnecessary as results are the same, that inclusion can result in double counting and will result in acceptance of projects that fail to pass a potential compensation test. I show that these arguments are unpersuasive or incorrect. Instead the inclusion of moral sentiments has potential to improve normative analysis. This is illustrated by comparing the standard criteria for benefit cost analysis (Kaldor-Hicks) that does not include moral sentiments with a modification (KHZ) that does. KHZ dominates KH even by the principles of KH itself. JEL Codes: Q20, D6, D63, D64 I. Introduction The practical criteria for economic efficiency, the Kaldor-Hicks (KH) criteria, have existed for over sixty years, without the profession fully facing the issue of whether or not moral sentiments should be included in normative economic analysis. In part this is due to historical reasons, in part to normal inertia associated with any academic discipline, in part because of the recent interest in moral sentiments in the form of existence values and in part because of objections raised to inclusion of moral sentiments. This paper concerns two issues. The first is whether or not it is desirable to include moral sentiments in welfare analysis. The answer to this question...
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...deductive argument conclusive? All the premises are true, No fallacies are committed, and it is valid. Which of the following is one of the criteria a deductive argument must meet in order to be conclusive (good)? -the argument must be valid * What are the 3 criteria that must be met for an appeal to experts to be legitimate? 1. Must be an expert in the relevant field, expertise on the issue 2. Consensus of experts in the field must agree. 3.Expert must be liable and agreeable, reliable and credible Suppose you decide to appeal to experts to answer a question. Which of the following is NOT one of the three criteria discussed in class that must be met for your appeal to authority to be likely to get you the truth? -the expert appealed to must have published work in the field. * What are the ways discussed in class to determine what the consensus of experts believe about an issue? Professional Journals * Why is it important to rely on a consensus rather than individual experts views? Some experts just start drama, past experts have been wrong. Why is it important to rely on consensus rather than individual experts views? -a consensus is more likely to be correct * How is truth defined in class? As defined in class, a statement is true and only true if it matches up with the way things are. * What are the main points of each of the Quickie Arguments? Morality does not equal legality, tradition, profit, standard procedure...
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...Faith Holloway Dr Justin Sytsma PHIL 105 May 5 2014 Critical Analysis of Psychological Egoism Psychological egoism, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (2010), entails that each person has but one ultimate aim: her own welfare. This essay will explore the meaning of psychological egoism, how arguments can be justifiably presented and why this theory is commonly appealing to philosophers. Often supporters of psychological egoism will present arguments through theories such as Darwinism and Desire Satisfaction. This essay essentially aims to critically assess the substantiality of these arguments. In order to correctly assess the arguments in favour of psychological egoism, firstly it must be stated what is implied by these arguments. Psychological egoism has many differences to other egoist theories such as ethical egoism, which state we should be selfish. Psychological egoism however states that all human actions are uncontrollably selfish, and that this is part of our human nature. It should be noted before continuing that this essay will be assessing this more radical form of psychological egoism , which identifies that ‘selfishness is’ the only way one can possibly performs actions, disregarding any consideration of others unless this aids their selfish action in some way. Psychological egoism can seem plausible to its supporters for a variety of reasons. Some of the most common include the concept that desires are entirely our own and therefore pursuing...
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...get caught and no one would find out. We are only just to impress others. Hobbes, on the other hand, is a realist; he knows that justice is needed for people to live together civilly. That is why some type of power or government is needed; people need to be kept just or else life would be chaotic. 3. Looking at Hobbes view, selfishness in itself is not a bad thing because right and wrong doesn’t exist so it can be “bad” for someone to be selfish. A person could act however they wanted to act and it could not be considered good or bad or right or wrong because there were no such things. Rand 1. I do not think Rand is correct in saying that if you accept altruism, then you end up with a lack of self-esteem and a lack of respect for others. Just because altruists believe they are morally obliged to benefit others doesn’t mean they do not respect those others. Respecting others and having high self esteem may be the sole reason why people act in an altruistic way, they respect everyone in the same way. 2. I would not say Rand is criticizing ideal or reciprocal altruism; she is more criticizing the justification behind why people reciprocated or the order they...
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...ethics 3. Agapeic ethics 4. Applied ethics 1. METAETHICS What does moral language mean ? Do moral facts exist ? How can we know whether moral judgments are true or false ? Metaethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties , statements , attitudes and judgments . Two prominent issues of metaethics are : 1.1 Metaphysical Issues: Objectivism and Relativism Objectivism or other worldly views suggest that reality exists as an objective absolute – facts are facts, independent of man’s feelings , wishes , views or hopes. It holds that there is no fundamental contradiction between the free, abstract character of mental life and the physical body in which it resides . It holds it as undeniable that humans have free will, and opposes metaphysical determinism or fatalism. The metaphysical relativism is the claim that there are no absolutes in reality; epistemological is that there are no absolutes in knowledge; morality is the denial of moral absolutes; and religious is the clam that there is no true religion . Greek philosopher Sextus Empericus believes in a position called moral relativism which says that moral values are strictly human inventions . 1.2 Psychological Issues in Metaethics Why be moral ? The psychological issue of metaethics deals with this question for which answers vary from ‘to avoid punishment’ to ‘to fit in with society’ Egoism and Altruism Psychological Egoism states that we...
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...Altruism & Society Campaign - Child Abuse The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) defines child abuse and neglect as, at minimum: “Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm” (Childwelfare, 2008, pg. 3).The number of confirmed reports of child abuse in 2005 is 899,000 (U.S. Department, 2007). In 2005, 12 children out of every 1,000 children up to age 18 in the United States was a victim of some form of maltreatment or abuse. Child abuse falls into six categories, some that are more self-evident such as physical abuse that leaves marks on the outside of the body and others, such as emotional, which leaves no mark save the one on the child’s heart and mind. The various forms of maltreatment for 2005 fall into the following categories: Neglect 62.8% Physical Abuse 16.6% Sexual Abuse 9.3% Emotional/psychological 7.1% Medical Neglect 2.0% Other 14.3% The listed percentages equal over 100% as children are not always the victim of just one category; regrettably, children may be the victim of both physical and emotional abuse. Studies into the cycle of abuse has shown that a person abused as a child becoming abusive as an adult, reveals “about one-third of people who are abused in childhood will become abusers themselves” ((NYTimes, 1989, pg. 1). Research...
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...today and is part of the evidence-based practice that underpins nursing. Burns & Grove (1999) further proclaimed critiquing research involves careful examination of all aspects of a study, to judge strengths, limitations, meaning and significance. Research is critiqued to provide knowledge, improve practice and provide essential data for conducting further studies. The aim of this assignment is to critique a chosen piece of nursing research, to analyse the rigor and validity using a critical framework as guidelines. Although, many critical frameworks exist, the one to be utilised in this assignment shall be Benton and Cormack's framework (1996). Using the systematic headings within the chosen frameworks will help to facilitate the understanding and preparation for the journal article to be critiqued (see appendix 1). The article to be critiqued is located in the Journal of Advanced Nursing (2007) which evaluates the valuing of altruism in nursing students (Johnson, Haigh and Yates-Bolton (2007). Benton and Cormack's framework is initiated by looking at the following; Title The details or the vagueness within the title alone can decide whether the research report is read or not suggested Parahoo (1997). When the author examines the subject matter which shall be appraised in this instance, it is evident that the title is informative with the first part explaining the research which has been conducted and the second part clearly indicating the type of research methods...
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...The Effects of Emotions caused by Video Priming on Altruism among randomly selected Far Eastern University students Kristine Bernadette Batusbatusan John Rovic Guides Christine Joie Macauba Maria Carmela Orfanel Far Eastern University Abstract This study focuses on the effects of emotions caused by video priming on altruism. The experimenters want to know if there is a significant effect between emotions and altruism. Some related articles were gathered and one study by Over H. and Carpenter M. (2009-10) showed that priming by photographs evoking affiliations actually increase altruism for toddlers. The experimenters want to prove the same for emotions but this time, taking into account funny and annoying videos to prime necessary emotions. Subjects were randomly selected and divided into two experimental groups. A group watched a funny video individually and the other group watched an annoying video individually. The experimenter then accidentally dropped a cup filled with marbles after the subject finished watching and observed whether the subject will help or not. A Helping Attitude Scale test was given afterwards. Results were obtained and suggested that emotions caused by video priming has nosignificant effect on the level of altruism of an individual. Explanations for this was gathered and it came out that the subjects, regardless of the videos, did what they felt to do whether to help the experimenter or not. The emotions they felt after watching the video did...
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...Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior Psychology class in college. It is a bit lengthy and the language is scientific in nature, hopefully that won't bother anyone. Keep in mind, it also follows the accepted assumptions made by the scientific community, namely that humans are the only animals with language. I know that is debatable, but it is what is accepted, so it is assumed in this paper. I hope you enjoy, and I hope I can't get in trouble for posting this on a public forum! Thanks so much guys~! The Evolution of Religion as a Social Mechanism Religion has proven itself to be a key part of the human experience across the globe. However, much speculation concerning some basic principles of religion have been debated as maladaptive, such as altruism. This has been a puzzle for scientists of many fields. Some evidence in other animals has allowed us a glimpse at what may be the beginnings of religion in the form of ritualistic behavior. Since this is such an important feature within religions of today and especially ancient religions, there is much to be learned from these comparisons. Through these early manifestations, scientists are able to look at the evolutionary process of religion within humans and how Darwinian structure can apply to social concepts. Indeed, the development of religion follows closely the path of all structure development, and in this light, is as much evolution as any other process of change through selection and adaptation. Unfortunately, much of this area...
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