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Selfishness as a whole
Selfishness in human
Selfishness as a whole
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The thoroughly selfish man aims at obtaining as much happiness as he can for himself and does not care whether other People are happy or miserable. In order to attain this object, he tries to appropriate as large a share as possible of the good things of this world.
Whenever he has as opportunity of doing so he enjoys himself, even when his enjoyment is obtained at the expense of his fellow-men.
History gives many conspicuous instances of selfishness in the case of despotic monarchs taught by their flatterers to think that they had nothing else to do in the world but seek the gratification of their appetites.
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Thus we find among the Roman emperors men who valued their immense power chiefly because it gave them the command of all the
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All over the world we find the selfish taking an unfair share of everything, and trying their best to use others as means to the attainment of their pleasure.
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They seem to be quite blind to the fact that by their course of life they must infallibly sacrifice their general happiness for the sake of a limited number of not very valuable pleasures. It is quite possible that a selfish man may by cunning or determination induce his friends and relations to sacrifice their interests to his.
It sometimes happens that there is in a family a notoriously selfish person, who makes himself or herself intensely disagreeable if crossed in any way.
Such disagreeable persons often get their own desires gratified at the expense of the more amiable members of the family, who are known to be unselfish and not expected to resent any wrong done to them.
But in the long run they defeat their own object, and find that by exclusive attention to their own happiness they have deprived themselves of the highest and most permanent sources of happiness.
Selfishness is a common trait in the world, it’s not a hidden factor, but very well-known as being one’s self-interest. The story “Hunters in the Snow” by Tobias Wolff, discusses how each character in the story deals with different kinds of selfish ways. One character, Tub, deals with eating problems and lies about it. Frank deals with a secret life that he is hiding from his wife. Kenny is always comparing something to his liking and if he does not like it then he will complain. Self-absorption is when someone is focused on their self and only themselves. It is known to be a regular’s human’s condition, it’s something majority of human beings have. Selfishness may also kick in during survival incidents. For example, a boy and his friends
Julius Caesar (July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general, statesman, Consul, and author of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. On March 15 44 B.C.E, the Roman dictator Julius Caesar was murdered. There are multiple accounts of this incident, while all accounts came after the death of Caesar, the writing on the incident portray Julius Caesar to have been a selfish dictator.
... the Five Good Emperors won the support of the senate and they improved Rome in many ways.
Augustus has a deep concern for his people but an underlying selfishness that is easily seen in much of what he discusses in his first hand account of his own life story.
Augustus created the office of emperor with the Augustan Principate, which was “to have no institutionalized authoritarian power, no perpetual dictatorship such as Julius Caesar had had himself voted early in 44, or anything like it (Stockton, 124).” Despite his wishes the people of Rome ended up giving Augustus eternal office, and powers to control the Senate with the rights to dictate agendas and veto (Stockton, 128). The people of Rome had created a position of absolute power, the exact thing Augustus was attempting to prevent. At the time, the people of Rome could not have realized what they were creating in the office of emperor, for Augustus was a great man whose leadership created a great shadow over the shoulder of any future emperor. Augustus would be followed by the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which reigned over the beginnings of Imperial Rome.
My second evidence to support this claim is when Elie wiesel said “I had but one thought not to have my number taken down and not to show my left arm” (Collections (310). In this quote he was only thinking about himself in order to survive, so in order to survive he needed to be a little selfish and think about what he needs to do to survive the selection. My last claim to support how survival is selfish when Elie wiesel was running he was using all his strength and power and didn't care about how anybody else was doing in order to survive. He said “I felt as though I had been running for years” (Collections(310). Elie wiesel is using all his strength and power in order for him to survive his not doing it for anybody else.
Selfishness is a disease of the soul that every person experiences several times throughout their life. To say that it has never been experienced would be hypocrisy. To say that it is a “good thing”, would be erroneous. Although as humans we like to lie to ourselves, it is no question that selfishness can make any person act like a fool. It consumes us and makes us into someone we are not. Whether it leads to getting people killed, falling in love, or buying alcohol, selfishness always leads to destruction.
family and points out behaviours that are selfish. He also points to the wider selfishness of a society that is driven
In today’s society, it is safe to say that humans can sometimes be selfish or only care about satisfying their own needs. We tend to adapt to a “every man for himself” mindset, meaning that we usually look after our own interests first rather than or before considering those of others. Sometimes, the act of looking out for others interests only occurs when there is a benefit for oneself. This can create an environment of hostility and incompassion. When this happens, no one benefits at all in the end.
Selfishness and materialism have always been seen in a negative light by society as a whole. However, where would we be without it? One possibility would be that our society would stagnate, for no one would have the motivation to do anything greater out of self-interest. In Animal Farm by George Orwell, Mollie was interested in how the Rebellion would affect her more than anything else, but her selfishness allowed her an advantage. Before the Rebellion, she was the center of attention, afterwards she was unaccustomed to everyone being equal, and her selfishness and self-interest was really shown.
Being selfish can lead to unthinkable consequences. In “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, four elderly friends gathered at the home of Dr. Heidegger, who wanted to try an experiment on them. They drank water from the fountain of youth, and in turn become young and greedy again. Their age came back, and they wished for more and more water. Although they wanted to be young and live their life again, they were destined to grow old. Situations that are meant to happen cannot be avoided.
Similarly Adam Smith a swedish economist believed that people don’t do anything to see the pleasure of others, they do everything in the pursuit of self-gain. Kishida Toshiko a famous women's rights activist is speaking
A survival situation can test humans mentally, thus making them show strong signs of selfishness. Thomas Hobbes: The life of man in the state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, and brutish and short [4]... From this depiction, it can be understood that the natural condition of man is not good at all. It is miserable since man is an enemy to his fellow men. Hobbes implies that the natural condition of man necessitates some regulations; otherwise, he cannot survive, and he unavoidably leads a miserable life with the fear of being killed by his fellow men.
Psychological egoism, a descriptive claim about human nature, states that humans by nature are motivated only by self-interest. To act in one's self-interest is to act mainly for one's own good and loving what is one's own (i.e. ego, body, family, house, belongings in general). It means to give one's own interests higher priority then others'. "It (psychological egoism) claims that we cannot do other than act from self-interest motivation, so that altruism-the theory that we can and should sometimes act in favor of others' interests-is simply invalid because it's impossible" (Pojman 85). According to psychological egoists, any act no matter how altruistic it might seem, is actually motivated by some selfish desire of the agent (i.e., desire for reward, avoidance of guilt, personal happiness).
Selfishness is a term fairly notorious for its meaning. A lot of people accept that being selfish is wrong, but no one knows how this came about and why it matters. Who has the right to decide whether someone gets to be selfish or not? In his article “The unselfishness Trap”, Harry Browne says that the best way for people to be happy is when if everyone sacrifices but me. Thomas Nagel, on the other hand, argues in his article “The Objective Basis of Morality” that being concerned about others is more important. Being selfish, for many people, is evil. By definition, selfishness is to be more concerned about yourself than others, but that would essentially make every living human being a “selfish” being.