Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 11:39:53 +0100 From: "John McWilliams" <jhm29-AT-cam.ac.uk> Subject: Re: PLC: Arguing for Altruism --On Wed, Nov 12, 1997 10:52 am "Ludvig Hertzberg" <ludvig-AT-mail.film.su.se> wrote: > I, like many, also used to think along the lines of 'every act is > motivated by egoistic concerns', when I first began to think critically > and cynically about things. Nowadays, I have a hard time taking that > statement seriously. Whenever I meet somebody confessing to that view, I > ask them if > > 1) they can even conceive of an act as altruistic according to their > definition. If they maintain that they cannot, that every act by > definition, as it were, is egoistic, I ask them what use they think we > have for the concept of altruism. I remind them that we do speak of > coldness and warmth, even though one could argue that the temperature is > always warm by some standards - there's always atomic activity, which by > a certain definition is what we understand by warmth (although when it's > minus 100 degrees, the warmth there is is rather minor, to put it that > way.) > > And 2), I ask them if they if they do not perceive egoism and altruism > in some way value-laden concepts. Surely, it loses its force (its sense > even) to accuse somebody of being egoistic if all acts are so by > definition. Ask them to think of instances when we in fact describe acts > in those terms, and I'm sure they'll see that we don't mean by altruism > that we think such an act is totally devoid of self-interest, but rather > something quite other - along the lines that there is something > admirable about the action, given the conditions under which it was > 'acted', the motives being how we perceive them. > > Hope this can be of some help for your thoughts. > > Ludvig Hertzberg > - Dept of Cinema Studies, U of Stockholm, Sweden This is the sort of wonderfully clear philosophical argument that I love... (and it's put me right on this matter) more please Ludvig! John John McWilliams Cambridge --- from list phillitcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005