1) Multiple fields including biology, economics, and psychology view humans as fundamentally self-interested beings who act to maximize their own benefits. 2) Proponents of psychological egoism argue that even seemingly altruistic acts are ultimately motivated by self-interest through mechanisms like reciprocation, social approval, and guilt reduction. 3) Critics argue this view reduces human morality to self-interest and denies the possibility of true altruism, though most agree some forms of altruism could serve hidden self-interested motives.

1. ALTRUISM LOST
BY TATIANA DURÁN

3. SONGS OF SELFISHNESS
See the world through other’s
eyes…
Why when we do
anything for or with
others lead us to the
motive of self-interest?
What’s good for me? Psychological egoism

4. “every particular affection, benevolence
among the rest, is subservient to self-
love” BISHOP BUTTLER
“The people we regard as moral are
simply selfish in a different way… JOHN
STUART MILL

6. BARRY SCHWARTZ
biology, economics and
 “evolutionary
behavior theory share a common vision
of what it means to be a person… human
beings are out of pursue self-interest, to
satisfy wants, to maximize utility, or
preference, or profit, or reinforcement, or
reproductive fitness. They are greedy,
insatiable on the pursuit of want satisfaction”

7. BIOLOGY
Edward O. Wilson
Altruism = central
theoretical problem of
sociobiology
Richard Dewkins: “Genes”,
not on individuals nor
groups. (1)

8. Robert Trivers
One individual saves another
because it increases the probability
that the favor will be returned. (2)
Two kinds of human altruism

9. ECONOMICS AND OTHER SOCIAL
SCIENCES
• Economics is not an
assumption
• The first principle of Economics
is that every agent is actuated
only by self-interest. FRANCIS
EDGEWORTH

10. AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
 There are only three reasons people give
money to charity: direct benefits to the
donor, indirect benefits to the donor, or a
“kantian motive” in which “a donor benefits
neither directly nor indirectly from the
consumption of the charitable good, but
merely from the act of giving…
A person is reliable if and only if it is more
advantageous to him than being unreliable.

11. • “Altruism” = exchange
• Friendship, social approval, social
rewards.
• Give in order to get
• Reciprocity= a way of mobilizing egoistic
motivations and channeling them into the
maintenance of the social system.

13. PSYCHOLOGY
• Sociobiologists: psychology needs what
they have to offer (more realistic
understanding of human being)
• Michael and Lisa Wallach: Satisfaction of
our own needs is what motivate the
individual.
• Freud: child altruistic impulses.

14. Clinicians…
JEAN BAKER MILLER
An apparent
FREUD /DAUGHTER
FREUD
Altruism
desire to people may think
help should they see
contributes through to
a reaction surrender the fact that
formation to real the woman
against impulses. is serving
one’s real herself
desire, TO through
HURT. serving
others.

15. RIGHT OR Is this going to
WRONG work for me?
Psychology has distinctions only
between good and bad forms of
selfishness. ALLAN BLOOM.

16. The amount of romantic love a person
feels for someone is supposed to be direct
function of the benefits he/she derives from
the relationship.
Learning
Behaviorism
theory
EGOISM EGOISM

17. 1.Seeking reward.
2.Avoiding punishment.
3.We find someone’s else
pain distressing.

18. BEHIND THE APPEAL OF EGOISM
 Altruism is only a chimera.
 Morality is married to the idea of doing for
oneself.
 Ethical egoism
 Kant= self-love and morality pull in opposite
directions.

19. Guilt
Who are
You’ve got
you to
to start Stop
judge
putting feeling
another
yourself guilty
person’s
first
life?

20. UTOPIA: ALTRUISTIC PERFECTION OR A
RACE OF SAINTS
• It does each • To linger on • This
of us an saintliness approach
communicate has the
injustice by s the
seeming to effect of
reassuring turning
put part of message that
human a few larger- altruism into
nature than-life an all-or –
beyond our characters nothing
reach have become proposition.
specialists in
helping
others.
1 2 3

21. CONCLUSIONS
Reducing non-economic issues
has relation with reduce economic
issues.
Bonus/grades.
Ethics pays.