Aristotle describes three types of divided goods. External, goods of the souls, and goods of the body. Goods of the soul are described to be the goods to the fullest. When in class, we talked about happiness and it being the highest good. What if reaching that happiness meant doing good along the way? Of course happiness is seen as pleasure or having fortune, but is happiness seen as performing good as well?
Altruism is defined as feelings and behaviors that show a desire to help others with a lack of selfishness. This basically means that people do good for the good of it. There is no award in the end. So my question is, do people do good to reach the highest good, it being happiness, or do people really do good for the good of it? Is altruism real? Looking at people like Mother Teresa and even priests, some people may think altruism is real. Others will think that their reward is seeking to enter heaven. It is in fact true that helping a homeless person or giving to charity makes us feel good inside, but is that why we do it? To feel good? Is the highest good, being happiness, why we do it? Are we really doing good for others or are we seeking the rewards of the highest good or an award in return? When someone is watching us, we often also tend do good. Self-image is important to us.
Some may argue that yes, I do good because it is good to do good or that it is the right thing to do. They can even say that it is because I don't want to look bad. Some may even say it is because God says so. Others may say that yes, I do good because it makes my soul feel good inside and I like to feel good about myself. What would you say? More importantly, what would you do?
I would say there is no such thing as true altruism as everyone does have their own motives. Everyone in the back of their mind whether they want to admit it or not is doing it for their own good. Even things done in private; there can be an internal reward people are looking for, that feeling of good karma earned. I think that doing good is good enough, that in reality it doesn't matter what small benefit you get from it. The goodness isn't diminished at all because of it.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the point that altruism does not really exist. People can say that they do good "just to do good". In reality, there is always some internal reward people are seeking for doing good which is "happiness". Happiness is the highest good because it is the ultimate goal of every good act. For instance, if you give money to some guy on the street, you feel happy that you did good automatically. In other words, happiness is obtained without your knowledge and that is a reward you cannot reject. Furthermore, order to keep feeling that rush of happiness you keep doing good things even if its as small as making someone laugh. The only way altruism can exist is if happiness can not be considered a reward.
ReplyDeleteI agree that most good deeds or "selfless" acts do have a sense of motive behind them like happiness. However, I also believe that in some situations people do good and make selfless sacrifices for the good of those around them, while making themselves unhappy. Now I don't have specific case where that is true, but I have heard/seen it happen before. However, most good deeds that people would like to say is altruism are not really altruism. Most people do it for a reward. A lot of kids in high school do community service as a requirement or just because it looks good on a resume. Those are their rewards. Some people do it because it makes them happy, like you said. Even though, altruism is very rare. I still believe that their can be some cases where altruism is true and real.
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