Selfishness Vs. Altrusim

The following is an essay I wrote in response to a discussion I was having.

Rational self-interest is the pursuit of one’s values, aligned according to one’s own judgment. To quote directly from Rand ““Value” is that which one acts to gain and keep, “virtue” is the action by which one gains and keeps it. “Value” presupposes an answer to the question: of value to whom and for what? “Value” presupposes a standard, a purpose and the necessity of action in the face of an alternative. Where there are no alternatives, no values are possible.”

You set a hierarchy of values in your life, which are arranged on the basis of some standard, which you have selected.  Rand dictated that the standard by which values should be judged is man’s life, man’s “self.” She proposed that a thing is valuable to an individual to the extent which it promotes his life. Whatever you determine is the highest value, is that which you would not, and should not, give up for any others.

Sacrifice is the trading of a higher value for a lower value or a non-value. In this context the modern usage of the word “sacrifice” is largely incorrect. That is to say a statement such as “I have kids now, so I have to sacrifice going out tonight.” is either inaccurate or greatly disturbing. The only way in which that statement is correct is if the children were of a lower value to an individual than going out. It is not sacrifice to stay home with children if they are properly aligned in your value system. In fact, staying home with the children instead of going out is, in this proper understanding, a perfectly selfish action.

Life forces us to make trades, you cannot always have everything you want. However, this forced trade off of values does NOT mean that you are sacrificing anything. You are merely exchanging a lower value for the preservation (or acquisition) of a higher one. Such choices are not ideal, and certainly are not always pleasant, but they are also NOT sacrifice.

Altruism is the placing of others above one’s self. That is to say that all others, and their values, are more important and of greater significance than one’s own life and values. In the hierarchy of values, altruism dictates that “others” and everything that entails comes before anything of value to you. Any pursuit of your values is “selfish” and therefore bad.

If you will allow me to indulge in a hypothetical situation, altruism dictates that if given the choice between saving the life of one of your loved ones and saving the LIVES of others, you should choose to save strangers to you, rather than those you hold dear. This would be especially true if there were more lives to be lost by your selfish action than if you were to act altruistically. If causing the death of your loved one would save people, altruism dictates that is what you should do.

Altruism dictates that your selfishness, your life, is only valuable insofar as it serves “others.” Be that the collective or the state. You are only allowed to have a small degree of selfishness if there is no “other” your actions could be serving. You are told that you MUST sacrifice your higher values for lower ones, otherwise you are being selfish and this is wrong.

Altruism is NOT just a sense of “general goodwill.”  There is nothing wrong with general goodwill, but it should be interpreted, and generally is, in selfish terms. I will go much farther, and give up more values to “express goodwill” to someone that I love as opposed to a stranger. I use “express goodwill” very broadly, to aid someone, to save them, to improve their lives, etc. This is a selfish action. When I buy dinner, offer rides, or generally help out people whom I care about, this is a selfish action. I get a very selfish pleasure (indeed the only form of pleasure is selfish) from helping people that I love, because they are my higher values. I would “sacrifice” to use the modern sense of the word, other things that I would normally like, my time, my money in the form of gifts, gas, food, cash etc. in order to promote their lives. In doing so I am being perfectly selfish, as I am promoting very high values to me.

I would go much farther to help these people than I would to people I know less, if at all, and certainly I would go farther to promote these people than my “enemies,” to the extent that any of us has enemies. This is contrary to altruism, because such rationale depends on pursuing one’s own values, sometimes in direct opposition to the values of others.

Now, to contextualize;

What kind of organism can live altruistically? A system of full and total altruism is not practicable on this Earth. If every individual of any species, but perhaps especially man, would behave altruistically, the species would die. Mothers, how dare you place the well-being of your children above the well-being of others? Such an action is motivated by selfishness. Zebra, who are you to deny that the lions eat? More accurately perhaps, who are you to deny the leeches a host, who are you to claim that your blood is yours, when the leeches will die without it?

It is IMPOSSIBLE for an individual to practice total altruism and live. If you claim to practice total altruism, how dare you eat? At the very least, how dare you eat more than exactly the amount of calories you need to survive to continue to serve the “others?”

And it is morally and intellectually dishonest and bankrupt to say that you do not advocate a system of total altruism, if you claim that altruism is good. You cannot say that “selfishness is evil and altruism is good” and then in turn say that it’s okay for people to be a little selfish. It makes no sense to say that something is good, but a little evil is necessary for life. Eating, drinking, breathing, all the functions of life are inherently selfish. Selfishness, the pursuit of rational self-interest, is what promotes life, altruism destroys it.

A more consistent view of Christianity would challenge altruism as well. I’ve already written quite a bit so I will attempt to shorten this. In Romans 9:3 Paul writes “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,” If Christianity advocates altruism, this is it’s logical conclusion. You must be willing to go to hell for the sake of others. This means no outs, no “Get Out of Jail Free” card. You must be willing to truly accept eternal damnation and separation from God so that others would be saved. There are 2 flaws I would like to take from this.

1.     

Who of us would do such a thing, or even advocate that anyone do this? Not I. What would be the purpose of existence at all, if each of us were morally mandated to give up his salvation for others? More importantly, an altruistic view demands that you do such a thing, you go to hell for others. Why would you accept a philosophy/religion that dictates that you suffer for all of eternity? If altruism is truly good, and if selflessness is what is required, this is what Christianity would demand. Who of us would willingly adopt a system of beliefs whose ultimate consummation was eternal suffering from which death would be a welcome relief? Yet such is the system of altruism that is practiced today.

2.      

Such a view is directly in contrast to Christianity if we understand the value system and apply them in a Christian context. In Christianity, God would be one’s highest value. There are important implications of this. First, this means that the renunciation of a lower value for God is not a sacrifice, but a selfish action, as you continue to pursue/maintain values according to your hierarchy, judged by the standard of your self. Additionally, a system of altruism would demand that you be willing to exchange your place with God for “others.” This by its very nature is incompatible with a Christian world view, placing God, and connection with him, above all other things. Altruism is the placing of others above self, necessitating, in Christianity, the placing of other people’s salvation and connection to God above your own. As such, you have ceased pursing your connection with God, and an open-faced altruist would demand that you suffer eternally in hell in exchange for the salvation of other.

These are the reasons I reject altruism. These are the reasons that selfishness, “the philosophy that an action is moral only insomuch as it promotes the interests of the self” is moral, and this is why, explained in brief, a more consistent view of Christianity would challenge the premise of altruism.