From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Mon Aug 05 2002 - 22:12:52 MDT
gts writes
> Charles Hixson wrote:
>
> > "An altruist is someone who does good things for someone else without
> > expecting a reward." This is because this is a definition that's easy...
>
> I see no need for a definition of altruism more complicated than the one
> you propose in your first paragraph. If altruists exist then they are
> defined as those who help others without expectation of reward.
>
> A person who does good for the purpose of obtaining a reward is not an
> altruist, by definition. This is true even if the reward is only a
> subjective emotional response to doing good, as is often the case.
>
> True altruists do not exist, in my view, but it's certainly true that
> our genes make certain that most of us we feel good when we *act* like
> one of these mythical creatures.
How do you explain Ridley's example of tipping in a restaurant
that you know you'll never visit again, or my example of letting
someone out ahead of you from a crowded parking lot when traffic's
really bad?
Lee
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