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Moral behaviour and selfishness

Wednesday 24th January 2007 22:15 in Human Relations

There is an old argument that even apparently moral and altruistic behaviour is motivated by selfishness; that we behave in that way in order to relieve our own conscience. I’m generally consequentialist and I don’t think the truth of this position can be denied. I would call an act ‘good’ if its outcome is good, even if done for the wrong reasons.

I would also say selfishness is good. The trouble is most people are not selfish enough. They are selfish only in the short term. They don’t realise that in order to be properly selfish (to fully act in our own interests) we are obliged to consider the welfare of others as well. The fact is that when we dehumanise others, we dehumanise ourselves, and the opposite is true too. When this is understood, the division between selfishness and altruism actually dissolves.





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