Altruism is a form of selfless behavior that benefits others without benefiting the self. Even more extreme than altruism is heroism which is a form of altruism that requires a tremendous amount of sacrifice. In general, heroism (1) involves some type of quest , (2) some form of actual or anticipated sacrifice or risk, (3) can be passive or active, (4) can be one time or recurrent (Franco, 2011). The current essay analyzes Wesley Autrey 's heroism. The case description section briefly describes the case. The theoretical analysis section summarizes major theories which explain the causes of Autrey 's heroism. In the end, the current essay integrates these theories and provides a coherent analysis of Autrey 's behaviors. Case Description Wesley Autrey is an ordinary father who has two daughters and works as a construction worker, but something extraordinary happened on January 2, 2007. When …show more content…
When Autrey saw Peter suffering, Autrey also experiences pain. For example, Autrey believes that Peter would lose his limbs or even life if he does not save Peter. Such a depressing and horrifying thoughts and imageries might have led to Autrey 's own pain which subsequently generates helping behavior that relieves the pain. In addition, Autrey’s thought of Peter losing his limbs might simultaneously provoke the experiences of a more selfless concern for the victim. For example, the thought of Peter losing his life might have prompted Autrey to imagine Peter 's disabled life after losing his limbs. As a result, Autrey helped Peter because Autrey does not want Peter to lead a miserable and disabled life. In addition, both personal distress and empathic concern might interact with each other. In other words, personal distress might enhance empathic concern, and vice versa. In short, the interaction between personal distress and emphatic concern together triggers Autrey 's
According to the article, Altruism and helping behavior, it is common for people to help others. Altruism is defined as “the desire to help another person even if it doesn’t benefit the helper” (Altruism and Helping Behavior. Print.). Helping behavior is “any act that is intended to benefit another person”
A hero, as stated before, selflessly thinks about others’ well beings before his or her own. Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit who was enlisted to help the dwarves retrieve Thorin’s family treasure, does the same thing when he decides to take matters into his own hands, and end the fight between Thorin, the lake men, and the woodelves. Bilbo decides to give the Arkenstone, a p...
This paper focuses on the Geraldine case (Dominguez, Tefera, Aronson, & NCTSN, 2012). Geraldine’s trauma occurred in the home when her father shot her mother. This paper will focus on my personal reactions to this case, how my reactions effect interactions with the people I am working with and finally self-care strategies. Personal reactions are the things that make us feel or act a certain way that others may or may not see, but we know that something has affected us these can be to good things and bad alike. I might react to winning the lottery by passing out, just the same I might get depressed if a close friend dies. These are reactions to the situations we are presented in life.
By definition, altruism is "the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others". Through vigorous analysis, however, I have established it to be a complex ideology whose followers can be divided into three categories: slaves, abusers, and advocates. The slave abides by the ideals of 'pure' altruism. In other words, he does not act according to personal need or desire; humanity is all that matters. This is altruism in its purest form and is the branch of altruism which envelopes Catherine and allows her to feel a sense of purpose. Yet, much more common is the abuser of altruism. He is the altruist who ascertains and seizes any opportunity for personal gain by abusing the ostensibly philanthropic ideology. As ironic as this seems, it is common practice for one to proffer with the intention of receiving something in return. Peter Keating demonstrates how such an abuser manipulates altruism into a golden ladder by which he may reach success. Reigning over even the most conniving abuser is the omnipot...
Tec offers the general definition of altruism, “…doing things for others without expectation of external rewards” (Tec 151). She indicates that this definition does not apply to people who saved Jews because it does not take into account the tremendous amount of risk (e.g., the possibility of losing one’s life) involved in their actions. Consequently, she offers the biological science definition of altruism, “…self destructive behavior performed for the benefit of others,” which she perceives to be more applicable to the exploits of non-Jews who rescued Jews (151). Moreover, Tec personally defines altruism within the context of the Nazi Holocaust as, “… that [behavior] which is carried out to benefit another?with a possibility of very high, rather than inconsequential, personal costs to the giver” (151). In addition, within the parameters of this broad definition she offers two sub-definitions: normative altruism and autonomous altruism. Tec explains that normative altruism (e.g., a father donating a kidney...
King Mufasa showed true altruism when he rescued Simba from the stampede. Altruism is an unselfish desire to help someone else without regard to personal welfare or safety. Some psychologists argue that in reality, altruistic acts are in fact motivated by self-interests such as to present one's self as powerful, caring,
The idea of self-sacrifice seems relatively common-sense to most of us: we forgo some current potential good in order to maximise either the good of someone we care about, or our own later good. Richard Brandt (1972) includes altruistic desires in his definition of self-interest: "if I really desire the happiness of my daughter, or the discomfiture of my department chairman ... then getting that desire satisfied ... counts as being an enhancement of my utility or welfare ... to an extent corresponding to how strongly I want that outcome." The key point here is that by this definition of self-interest, an altruistic act must have a number of conditions in order to be classed as self-sacrifice. Ove...
Who is your hero? Many of us can clearly picture our idea of our personal hero in our head, but is the person you consider to be a hero really a hero by definition? In Heroism: Why Heroes are Important, Scott LaBarge, a Classics and Philosophy Professor at Santa Clara University, awakens your thoughts on the word heroism and how it has changed since its origins in ancient Greece. Throughout his essay, he goes in depth into the term ‘hero’ and compares it to society’s take on heroes today. Although LaBarge uses examples to back up his stance that “Today, it is much harder to detach the concept of heroism from morality (LaBarge. 1),” his essay contains flaws and he contradicts his own words.
A hero will risk their life to help other people. A selfless act. For example the story of the man in the red bandana. He died while saving other people on 9/11 when the twin tower were destroyed by terrorists. Another example is Abraham Lincoln funeral Sermon Dr. Phineas D. Gurley says “ He is dead; but the god in whom he trusted lives, and he can guide and strengthen his successor.” Frederick Douglass autobiography say “But, while attending the anti-slavery convention at Nantucket.... I felt strongly moved to speak, and was at the same time much urged to do so by Mr. William C. Collin.”
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, altruism is defined as an “unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others”. In simpler terms, altruism is unconditional kindness. Altruistic behavior has been a controversial and obscure subject among biologists, including Charles Darwin, who was one of the first to try and explain this phenomenon. “To explain the evolution of altruism, Charles Darwin suggested that natural selection could act on groups as well as individuals--an idea known as group selection”(Schwartz). Group selection, which was based off of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, was the theory that an individual organism would sacrifice itself (seemingly selflessly) for the good of the entire population, hoping that its actions would save the group from annihilation and therefore allow for the continuation of the group’s gene flow into its descendants. Darwin explained that groups with members “ready to give aid to each other and sacrifice themselves for the com...
For the last 5 years Zimbardo and his colleagues have been studying and exploring the nature as well as the roots of heroism. With this study he defines what heroism is in several parts. “First, it’s performed in service to others in need. Second, it’s engaged in voluntarily, even in military contexts, as heroism remains an act that goes beyond something required by military duty. Third, a heroic act is one performed with recognition of possible risks and costs, be they to one’s physical health or personal reputation, in which the individual is willing to accept anticipated sacrifice. Finally, it is performed without external gain anticipated at the time of the act
The behavior of altruism in an individual is when it brings more costs than benefits for the benefit of another individual. Altruism comes from the Latin word "Alter" which means "the others." This translation of alturism describes it relatively well. Another great definition of altruism can be found in a statement of Edward Osborne Wilson, an American biologist. According to Wilson, "Altruism is defined in biology, as in everyday life, as a self-destructive
These four examples provide different scales on which selfless service can be displayed. Selfless service can be displayed in regards to one’s nation/military, one’s family, one’s community, and any team sport. The U.S. Army’s definition of selfless service is “to put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own” (“Selfless Service,” GoArmy.com). The Army consists of teams, in which those teams form a larger size unit, etc. If a team fails, the unit fails.
Heros are not selfish they are selfless because to them they should care more about people than they care about themselves. Just like a firefighter, firefighters risk their lives for people that are in burning buildings they also risk their own lives for a very low chance to live. Like on 9/11, the twin towers were going to fall any second and there were still firefighters that went inside of those buildings to save people and winded up dying for the safety of others.The average person wouldn't want to risk their lives for that. Another example would be a soldier in the war, they risk their lives for the sake of our country, they also risk the fact that they could lose a limb or even worse they risk
Heroism has no bias function, but through the situations that hits one, heroism can shine through or conceal itself from the false bearer. Is it the acts of kindness that leak out the functionality of heroism or a fantasy warrior who fights to charm others. Heroism works on many horizons and can be classified in many complex rubrics or classifications, for example, one might say a person who has impacted one person’s life is not a hero, but a person who has aided many is a hero. One example of a hero is in the poem, A Man, in the various examples of how soldier lives his life in handicap, but chooses to make his life as normal as possible and for others by going the extra mile. Another example might be in the movie, Mulan, where a young Chinese girl chooses to fight in her ill-stricken father’s place to restore her family’s honor. In the vast populations eyes, every special person sees a hero in a different way, for some these examples above might not be the type of heroes that a couple of people might not come face to face with or even think of; No one genuinely knows how heroism really functions, for there is 7.6 billion different variations of what heroism is. Heroism in another possible viewpoint could be a powerful force of righteousness in the embodiment of a pure soul and acts of kindness or acts of willing love. Another possible perspective of heroism could be the way how others want to benefit society in majorly positive ways.