What is a good deed, a good deed? Selfishness and altruism

Everyone has asked himself, at least once in his life, what a good deed is, a good deed. Of course, there you can answer in different ways, but all people understand that a good deed is an act in the interests of another person. In this article, we will analyze only two possible fundamental principles of good deeds: altruism and selfishness. Let's start with less obvious and noble, with selfishness.

Egoism as the basis for good works

It would seem that the paradox and the absurd, but in most cases this is exactly so. There is an illustrative story in this sense, almost a parable, but it happened with a real historical personality - Abraham Lincoln.

Once Lincoln rode in a carriage with one official, and they argued about the basis of man's moral behavior. The official claimed that altruism was at the bottom of everything, and Lincoln was confident that he was selfish.

Life judged the debaters: the carriage rode across the river on the bridge, and suddenly the American president saw that the pig was stuck in the mud on the river bank, near the water, that is, it was in danger. It was raining. Lincoln in a suit jumped out in the rain and saved the pig, pulling it out of the mud and dragging the animal to a safe place. In a spoiled suit, but the lucky Lincoln returned to the carriage. The official told him that he had just denied his own opinion. "Why?" - the American president was surprised. "Well, you saved the pig, but you do not benefit from it!" The official said. "On the contrary, if I had not saved her, I could never forgive myself for that," Lincoln retorted.

So think after that, what is a good deed, a good deed.

Suppose, when millionaires donate a part of their capital to sick children, how is this to be assessed? And if they also shoot cameras, do they write about them in the newspapers? Is this a PR or a good deed?

And even if no one knows about the donations of the rich man, maybe he is tormented by conscience or he begs for sins? How much is all this disinterested?

It is always interesting in this sense to think about what is a good deed, a good deed in a particular, specific case.

Altruism encourages saints and fairy-tale heroes to do good deeds

To good deeds and deeds from pure, uncomplicated altruism only holy and fairy-tale heroes are capable. And there is nothing insulting to an ordinary citizen, for example, a millionaire, since a saint is already one who has overcome the vices of human nature and has approached a humanistic ideal. The most vivid example in this sense, of course, is Jesus Christ. If we turn to recent history, it's Mother Teresa or Mahatma Gandhi. They served people wholeheartedly.

When the majority thinks about these heroes - the cultural phenomena of world history, there is no question of what a good deed is, a good deed, as the answer begs itself: in self-sacrifice for the sake of happiness and the health of others.

In the film by Alexander Rowe "Morozko" based on the Russian folk tale, there is also an example of a completely disinterested deed when Ivan, transformed into a bear, decided to take the old woman to her crutch. The hero without a "back thought" decided to do a good deed, and this is exactly what the old man-Borovich, who turned a narcissistic young man into a bear, demanded of it.

In other words, parables and fairy tales insist that a good deed or a good deed is possible only when a person renounces individual, personal needs and thinks only of the well-being and happiness, the comfort of another person. A wonderful ideal, is not it?

But if we turn to our afflictions, it turns out that it does not matter what kind of source the good receives from feeding (altruism or selfishness). The main thing is that it is strong and gaining strength. And people did not forget that besides them, there are unfortunate and sick people in the world who really need help.