N
Novice
Guest
I got into an (good-natured) argument with a neighbor who is an Ethics professor at a business school nearby. He said he never realized how important "altruism" was, until he had a kid. Now so much of what he does is focused on another person, and he thinks "altruism" is an important value that should be emphasized in our culture.
I responded that I didn't think there was such a thing as "altruism". There is only (enlightened) self-interest. As we mature (through the interaction of worldly experience and revelation), our definition of self-interest increasingly encompasses other people. (For Christ, obviously, at the extreme, self-interest encompassed all of humanity). For many, obviously, parenthood can be their first experience of this expanded "self-interest". But as Christians, who see humanity as brothers and sisters, fellow creations of a shared Creator, to hurt another is in a very meaningful way to hurt ourselves.
Traditional "altruism", I said, can become a well-spring of self-righteousness, or foolish self-abasement. I don't believe that those who truly "love their neighbors", through prayer, philanthropy, or other service, do it because they think they're being "good" in an altruistic way. Rather, they couldn't imagine acting any other way: it's like eating or sleeping or taking care of any other need. Even the pompous people who like the Pharisees do good to have others see it and "honor" them do it for self-interest, a reflected praise from others.
How do others in the Christian community view this? Is their "altruism" in the secular sense of acting against self-interest, or not?
I responded that I didn't think there was such a thing as "altruism". There is only (enlightened) self-interest. As we mature (through the interaction of worldly experience and revelation), our definition of self-interest increasingly encompasses other people. (For Christ, obviously, at the extreme, self-interest encompassed all of humanity). For many, obviously, parenthood can be their first experience of this expanded "self-interest". But as Christians, who see humanity as brothers and sisters, fellow creations of a shared Creator, to hurt another is in a very meaningful way to hurt ourselves.
Traditional "altruism", I said, can become a well-spring of self-righteousness, or foolish self-abasement. I don't believe that those who truly "love their neighbors", through prayer, philanthropy, or other service, do it because they think they're being "good" in an altruistic way. Rather, they couldn't imagine acting any other way: it's like eating or sleeping or taking care of any other need. Even the pompous people who like the Pharisees do good to have others see it and "honor" them do it for self-interest, a reflected praise from others.
How do others in the Christian community view this? Is their "altruism" in the secular sense of acting against self-interest, or not?