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Originally Posted by Diamond
Been thinking philsophically here, let's see what you think. 
Basically, is there any completely selfless act possible? Standing up for old people on the bus to let them sit, for example, - would we do it if it didn't make us feel better about ourselves? Absolutely everything that you do, you do it because you want to. Somebody said what about having to decide whether you die or somebody you love had to die. If you chose to have yourself killed instead, why would you actually be doing this? Yes, technically it is selfless because you are destroying yourself to save somebody else. But the reason why you would do this? Is it not because you don't want to see the person you love suffer, is it not because you don't want that person to die - is it not fundamentally about what we want and not other people?
Therefore, do we all just follow what we want to do? Aren't we just slaves to what we want? Do we actually have free will?   |
You should try reading 'The selfish Gene' by Richard Dawkins - he covers the issue of altruistic actions - truly selfless acts.
His arguement is, is that there is no such thing, since on some genetic level you are helping yourself, or your genes.
For example, saving a loved one, such as a child or a sibling, ensures your genes carry on existing - even saving (for example) a complete stranger from drowning could be viewed that way - he said it's entirely possible that in that split second before you act, on a genetic level your body is able to asses whether or not that person is in someway distantly related to you, and by saving them you would be helping your genetic code to carry on.