"Is Mother Teresa a selfish bitch?"
After that question was asked in lecture a couple weeks ago, I was determined to prove that Mother Teresa was not as selfless as she is portrayed to be. Hobbes' believes that in the state of nature people are selfish, egoistic, and vain. He believes that man is strictly self interested and that it is impossible that they would think of anyone's self interest but their own.
Hobbes' theory may be viewed as being cynical, but it is more realistic than cynical. I think that humans are self interested and only out for them selfs. Altruism is an illusion that is out their to help disguise the man-eat-man world we live in. Selfless acts are self centered. People who act in altruistic ways believe that they ought to help others, because doing so confirms the type of person they are. Their identity is tied up with their values thus correlating self interest and altruism together. According to "Altruism is an Illusion" some of the causes of why behavior seems selfless is because:
Neurochemical Rewards: The feel-good factor that comes with doing social good results from our evolved genetic program.
Personal Pride: A person wants to feel good and justify themselves in their thinking of themselves as good, so that by helping others they create their own positive self-identity
The Social Reward: A sometimes secret desire to be seen as good by others (The Goodguy Badge)
The Want of Power Over Others: To help others is to affirm ones' own sense of power and control
Egoism, which is is that deep down everybody acts only to further their own interest is looked at in such a negative way. Egoism does not have to be a bad thing. Egoism is this taboo thing in society because people have yet to acknowledge and reveal their pure intentions. Everyone is self interested to a certain extent and if we can all identify with the truth then it does not have to be a bad thing. If egoism is taken as the norm, then it does not have to be taken as a negative trait because everyone is self interested and there isn't anything wrong with that because it works. Ironically, Egoism makes the world go round.
(For example, why do we have friends? To fulfill the emptiness of being lonely. We need company, we need people to listen to our problems. It works both ways of the spectrum, we fill each others void. When we friends need entertainment and they use each other for company, both know that each other is there because they need company, but it doesn't matter because both are taking care of their needs. Self interest works really well together.
Next time you do a generous act with 'pure intentions' question why you really went out of your way, was it to help out another person, or was it to fulfill yourself.
Aya,
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree with your opinion of the reasons why people perform selfless acts. Although there are plenty of people out there who do community service just to look good or to make themselves feel good, there are also people who do it because they want to help others. To use myself as an example, I am a volunteer preschool teacher. Although neurochemical rewards may be present in myself, I don’t volunteer my time in order to gain pride, be seen as the “good guy” or because I want power. I teach preschool because I enjoy spending time with the children and I want to teach them for their benefit, not for shallow reasons benefitting myself. Similarly, I’ve spent a lot of time volunteering time to put together events, and although I feel a sense of accomplishment when they go over smoothly, the most important part to me is that the people who are in attendance have enjoyed themselves, that’s what makes it worth it. If the four reasons stated were the only reasons why people do community service, then by now people would have found other ways to fulfill these. I agree that deep down people want to fulfill their interests, but they may also want to fulfill the interests of others as well. Egoism is a part of us, but it’s not everything we’re made of. Perhaps Mother Teresa is accountable for some or all of your stated reasons of why people perform selfless acts, but I believe that she got something greater out of it and that she wanted to care for other people and make them happy. Not every person is as self-interested as you may believe, I think there can be exceptions to this Hobbesian rule.
Aya,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was very interesting. I agree that as humans, we are partially driven by our selfish, innate desires, but I think that it's a stretch to say that literally every action we make is propelled by the need for personal gain.
For instance, twenty minutes ago, I saw a girl approach a building while on crutches. I walked up to the door and opened it for her. My thought process wasn't "I need to do this to avoid feeling guilty about not doing it." I wasn't doing it because I knew it would make me feel better. It wasn't because I thought I could feel happy about it. I did it because it was to her benefit for me to assist her. I wanted to make her day easier, and I knew that she would have difficulty opening a door while on crutches; so, I helped her.
People like to be cynical and think that everything is about one's personal gain, and although I'm not disagreeing that sometimes people act with their own, selfish intentions, there are a lot of selfless acts done in the world. There are a lot of people that want to make a difference in the world because they genuinely want a better place to live. Maybe doing this makes them feel happy, but that chemical reaction of happiness can exist without it being the driving force for one's actions. Some people genuinely are just nice people.
So, perhaps Mother Theresa was driven by selfish desires at times, but that doesn't necessarily make her a selfish bitch.
Aya,
ReplyDeleteAt first as I was reading this post, I did not completely agree with some of the ideas you were touching on because I thought you were taking a very negative approach to all of the things that make friendships and relationships great. But, as you began talking about how our self interest can bring us together I began to understand what you were talking about. I think it is true that our friends can fill the voids in our lives and it is healthy to have people we can trust and talk to. However, I do not believe that the only reason we care about and seek to help others is to make ourselves feel good. I believe there are a lot of genuine people in the world that truly care enough and have enough compassion to put others in front of themselves whether it be a friend, a significant other, or a child.
Aya,
ReplyDeleteGood post to stir up some debate about this topic! Whether or not Mother Teresa is a selfish bitch is a very complicated and difficult feat, as there are many different reasons and perspectives on acts of kindness. I do agree that people can be self-interested and do good deeds for their own satisfaction. I don’t see anything wrong with the “causes of why behavior seems selfish,” as those reasons are valid in many people’s cases. I’m sure there are students at this university who have volunteered in high school as something to put on their resume, assuring the university that they are not only intellectual beings, but also kind-hearted ones.
But, I also think the motives of performing an act of kindness can sometimes be unexplainable -- you just do it just because, as with Mother Teresa’s case. Ego doesn’t get in the way, and there is no desire for a badge or some sort of recognition. Also, since I have been raised Catholic, it’s almost biased for me to say, “Mother Teresa is definitely NOT a selfish bitch!” I do believe Mother Teresa performed gracious deeds for the point I just stated -- that she did them just because. Though this seems like a broad explanation, I’m almost positive that other people know what I’m trying to get at because they have felt the same way. Why do you hold the door for someone who looks perfectly capable of opening the door themselves? I don’t know, you just do it and you don’t think anything of it. Mother Teresa is one of those people who happen to be selfless. She did not promote for good deeds -- it was others who boasted her reputation.
Well, with a title like yours, I had to read the post. And it definitely brings up some questions. On one hand can we attribute everything we do to a selfish desire? Or can we leave things unexplained and just do them being selfless? I read through the post and the comments above mine, and I think I'm actually falling in somewhere in the middle grey area. I definitely agree that people will do things to improve their own self-image, be it for themselves or others. I mean, everybody at some point has tried to out-do somebody for the benefits of their reputation. But can we say that Mother Teresa tried to out-Catholic everybody? And that the motivation for that selfish, and all for her own glory? I am inclined to think not. While I will never actually know her motivation because 1) I never knew her and, 2) she is dead, I can only assume that based on her faith, everything she would have done would have been to the glory of God. This is of course under the assumption that she actually had the faith, and that she followed it. On the other side of things though, taking spirituality and religiousness out, I think people can still be selfless. The only difference is that I think people, if they are selfless, are generally selfless on a smaller scale. The example of holding open a door. Or giving somebody the ten dollar bill that they didn't notice fall out of their pocket. These are completely selfless acts, and in my own experience I naturally do them. I don't perceive a benefit of doing things like this, I just do it because I would want somebody to treat me that way. However, how many times has someone let the door shut in my face? Almost every day here at school. Yet, I still hold the door open for everybody I see. This is the best proof I have of selfless action. On a larger scale, I agree, people will do things, at least to some extent for their own benefit. The person who cures a type of cancer will definitely do it to help the victims of it. But, once they find that cure, they are set up for life. I think that pure selflessness comes on the small scale, some selfishness creeps in the larger it gets.
ReplyDeleteAya-
ReplyDeleteI, like yourself, was very caught off guard when I heard in lecture that “Mother Teresa was a selfish bitch”. While I enjoyed reading your argument that tried to prove that she was not indeed, a selfish bitch, I think it’s important to recognize and respect the opinions of others, including philosophers like Hobbes. I say this because while I too agree that Mother Teresa never acted like a selfish bitch, we could argue this notion all day and never change the beliefs of a philosopher like Hobbes, that everyone is naturally selfish and that all “pure” deeds for others are actually tainted by self-interest. Therefore, I think it is important to look at the issue, conceding to Hobbes point and working forward. Therefore, let’s say (even though I do not think this) that Mother Teresa was a selfish bitch and therefore anyone who has ever done a deed for someone else was selfish. While this is faulty in my opinion, under the beliefs of Hobbes, it we all stopped acting selfishly then we would eliminate all good deeds for one another. While eliminating selfishness is good, I think it’s important to recognize its drastic effects under Hobbes’ nature. Therefore I think that while there may be a hint of selfishness in doing good deeds for those less fortunate, I think good deeds represent a recognition of a purpose greater than oneself in society: a sense of faith. While religion is a touchy societal topic, I think good deeds for others can be traced more to a faith in the fact it is what we called to do, especially in Mother Teresa’s case, rather than a motive for selfish behavior.
Thanks for the read!
-Brennan
Aya,
ReplyDeleteI love this post. For so many reasons Altruism is all to easily accepted as a valid code of morality in todays society. Continuing to make posts like these can go a long way in fixing this problem. You did a very good job of explaining the true meaning of selfishness, and exposing the invalidity of the negative connotation that has developed around the word. Dissolving this negative connotation is the first step in convincing people by rational means that selfishness virtue.
Because I believe you did such a great job of expressing the value of selfishness in society, I would love to see you take your argument a step further and delve into the morality of selfishness. What role does human nature play in deriving this morality, what makes selfishness moral, etc.. would be some great talking points.
Again, great job!