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Single Idea 14831
[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / f. Altruism
]
Full Idea
Never has a man done anything that was only for others and without any personal motivation. …How could the ego act without ego?
Gist of Idea
No one has ever done anything that was entirely for other people
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Human, All Too Human [1878], 133)
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Human, All Too Human', ed/tr. Faber,Marion [Penguin 1994], p.92
A Reaction
This is only a denial of the purest of 'pure' altruism. It is hard to imagine anyone performing an altruistic action which permanently shamed the reputationof its performer - though it might be possible in a nicely contrived fiction.
The
16 ideas
with the same theme
[placing the concerns of others before one's self]:
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1590
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The just man does not harm his enemies, but benefits everyone
[Plato]
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90
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All altruism is an extension of self-love
[Aristotle]
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3553
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Stoic morality says that one's own happiness will lead to impartiality
[Stoic school, by Annas]
|
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6244
|
Human nature seems incapable of universal malice, except what results from self-love
[Hutcheson]
|
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3926
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The human heart has a natural concern for public good
[Hume]
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3717
|
Reverence is awareness of a value which demolishes my self-love
[Kant]
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3720
|
We may claim noble motives, but we cannot penetrate our secret impulses
[Kant]
|
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4185
|
Altruistic people make less distinction than usual between themselves and others
[Schopenhauer]
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14831
|
No one has ever done anything that was entirely for other people
[Nietzsche]
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7205
|
Altruism is praised by the egoism of the weak, who want everyone to be looked after
[Nietzsche]
|
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4505
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How can it be that I should prefer my neighbour to myself, but he should prefer me to himself?
[Nietzsche]
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5316
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We undermine altruism by rewarding it, but we reward it to encourage it
[Wilson,EO]
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5318
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Pure hard-core altruism based on kin selection is the enemy of civilisation
[Wilson,EO]
|
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3263
|
If our own life lacks meaning, devotion to others won't give it meaning
[Nagel]
|
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21830
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For Darwinians, altruism is either contracts or genetics
[Flanagan]
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9781
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Tolerance and love are strategies to avoid encountering our neighbours
[Zizek]
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