Poll: Are Humans Always Selfish?

[Quad08]

I'm currently taking a philosophy class and we were talking about Psychological Egoism "...the view that all people are selfish in everything they do, that is, that the only motive anyone ever acts is self-interest. On this view, even when we are acting in ways apparently to benefit others, they are actually motivated by the belief that acting in this way is to their own advantage..." (James Rachels)

Are we, humans, really motivated by selfish reasons?

Personally, I don't think the answer is so simple, but I'd like to see what you think and why

 

[Internet Kraken]

I don't think the answer is simple either. It really depends on what you consider to be selfish.

 

[Wakefield]

People will tell you that humanity is selfish. That is not true, there are more good people in the world then you know. Its just the jerks are louder.

 

[DannyBoy451]

I'm currently taking a philosophy class and we were talking about Psychological Egoism "...the view that all people are selfish in everything they do, that is, that the only motive anyone ever acts is self-interest. On this view, even when we are acting in ways apparently to benefit others, they are actually motivated by the belief that acting in this way is to their own advantage..." (James Rachels)

Are we, humans, really motivated by selfish reasons?

Personally, I don't think the answer is so simple, but I'd like to see what you think and why

I think a lot of apparantly ultruistic actions are motivated by self-interest.

But then you have cases where a soldier will throw himself on a hand grenade to save his squad mates.

 

[101194]

Well, Humanity as a race is selfish, Considering that a trait that will help you survive, It has spread far and wide.

 

[Acidwell]

No its not true look at the classic family case of doing something for someone you love

 

[zohmbee]

Humans are selfish, yes, but there's a lot of other traits in there, too. You just have to look harder for the good ones.

 

[Inverse Skies]

Yes we are. However we're also altruistic at the best of times, but for the majority of decisions they are made for our own reasons, which for the most part can be extrapolated to be selfish in some way. This isn't actually a bad thing as some people would have you to believe, there is a major difference between being selfish in your normal everyday decisions and being very selfish when it comes to larger ones. It is those choices where it's best to not be selfish and to think of others. But for normal things, people usually act in their best interests without even subconsciously realising it. It's a form of selfishness as it seeks to advance your own agenda, but it's not a bad form because it's so minor.

 

[Stoic raptor]

I dont think that most people are selfish. Yes, lots of people are selfish, but there are also lots of people who arnt selfish. You just dont see it. Also, people are selfish about different things.The answer isnt really simple.

 

[dagens24]

Human beings arn't selfish; genes are. Our genes constructed our brains to better help us (essentially carriers for our genes) survive so that they too can survive. But we've gained independence from our genes and do things which are counter intuitive to our genetic survival (the use of contraceptives as a primary example). Our brains have, to our genes disadvantage, have figured out how to exploit our pleasure receptors (pleasure/pain mechanisms being our genes prime 'rule' for survival (we seek pleasure while avoiding pain as a basic ideology)). So to make a complex idea simple, we have developed the ability to be truly atrustic despite the fact it does us a disservice, so while we are inherently selfish (like all living things), we do have the ability for altruism, but there is no doubt that ALL communal animals are altrustic for personal gain, but we are able to take it a step further.

 

[TheCameraman]

A lot of people are selfish.
A lot of people are selfless.

That's all folks.

 

[guardian001]

As individuals? No. Every person is different. Some are incredibly selfless, some are totally selfless, and some are in the middle.

As a species? Hell yes. We consume or demolish everything in our path.

 

[BonsaiK]

I see where the OP is coming from. Michael Gira wrote something very similar to this (but far more succinct and to the point) in one of his books. However it's an obvious oversimplification and generally not accurate. Motivations for human behaviour are very deep-rooted and complex and can't be boiled down to jsut one motivating factor this easily.

 

[Souplex]

I help others because it makes me happy knowing that others are happy so I guess that makes me selfish in a certain sense.

 

[Jaranja]

Yes, every single person on the face of the planet is selfish.

 

[Sub_par]

the problem with this is that really any action you could find a selfish motivation behind it, if that is the true motivation, can't be determined because then you get into the argument about how people like to skew perspective to see themselves in a good light.

for example, the hand grenade thing one could argue that he did genuinely want to save his mates, but on some level conscious or not, he was also motivated by the fact that if he didn't he would feel bad about it later, feeling he failed at his duty. This would make it a mostly selfless act, but not ENTIRELY as the argument is about in most philosophical discussions on this topic.

 

[IrishBerserker]

Yes, to a certain degree everyone is selfish.

 

[Rusty pumpkin]

yes and no, there are the horribly selfish people that steal and are general douches. then there are everyone else, and we are all selfish every day, eating food and using electricity when other people dont have any. thats rather cliche

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

This is a complicated question that involves answering many things. I think humans are egotistic, we do things for ourselves. But this is not necessarily a bad thing, it doesn't mean we're selfish...at least by some definitions. For example I'll use myself, I have friends, there are people in this world I like. For them I will do things, favours, or what have you, I do these things because it makes me feel good. I like to see those around me happy, because it makes me happy. So you can see I do it for myself but also them. Make what you want of this answer.