I agree with disthing, so my comment is just going to build on what he said.
I suppose I don't believe in altruism, but in a way it doesn't matter. If I feel an uncontrollable obligation to be selfless, is acting on that feeling altruism or selfishness? The action itself is selfish because I'm only doing it to reconcile my uncontrollable desire to do it, but the outcome (the important part, from the perspective of the rest of the world) is selfless. It's selfish selflessness.
If you believe in altruism you have to believe in free will, and I'm not sure I believe in free will. In fact, I'm almost sure that I don't. So maybe altruism doesn't exist, but the outcome of selfishly-motivated actions can be selfless.
is 100% (total) altruism possible?
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I agree with disthing, so my comment is just going to build on what he said.
I suppose I don't believe in altruism, but in a way it doesn't matter. If I feel an uncontrollable obligation to be selfless, is acting on that feeling altruism or selfishness? The action itself is selfish because I'm only doing it to reconcile my uncontrollable desire to do it, but the outcome (the important part, from the perspective of the rest of the world) is selfless. It's selfish selflessness.
If you believe in altruism you have to believe in free will, and I'm not sure I believe in free will. In fact, I'm almost sure that I don't. So maybe altruism doesn't exist, but the outcome of selfishly-motivated actions can be selfless.