Susan Wolf The meanings of Lives Susan Wolf, born in 1952, is widely considered one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th and 21st century. One of Wolf’s most renowned works is The meanings of Lives, which drew a lot of attention in the philosophical world for a number of questions that arose from it. Arguably her most widely debated and questioned assertion in The meanings of Lives is “If you care about yourself you’re living as if you’re the center of the universe, which is false.” This however I don’t not believe to be true. Every human being, no matter how successful or unsuccessful, has the right to care for them sleeves and not believe they are the center of the universe while doing so. Wolf’s The meaning of Lives argues a number …show more content…
Even forms of human beings preforming selfless acts derives from ones desire to help others, which in a way makes that person feel importance. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, better known as Mother Teresa, devoted her life to helping those in great need. To many these acts may appear as selfless and gallant acts that are not performed by anyone with any type of ego. Yet when taking a psychological look at why she performed such acts they may appear a somewhat more for herself. Every time anyone does anything, even when for someone else, they are doing it for some type of feeling that they experience. With the holiday season approaching, there will be a specific emphasis on giving unlike any other time of the year. We give yes to show gratitude for someone we love, but also to experience the joy in seeing someone enjoy something they them self-caused. Even while being selfless humans have the unique ability to still be doing something that involves caring for them self. This outlook toward the human condition completely debunks Wolf’s claim that “when caring about yourself you are living as if you are the center of the universe.” When choosing to do anything positive or negative, for others or for yourself, you are still taking your self-interest into consideration, making it …show more content…
A possible objection to my critique could be that “Although human beings may reserve the right to care about themselves it is egocentric, and not in the best interest for humanity.” The objection to my criticism could extend to even say that “By putting yourself interest ahead of others, you are indeed implying that you are the center of the universe or at least your own universe.” Yes, it is indeed the humane thing to do to put the best interest of others ahead of your own. But humans are not, and should not, forced to put the greater good ahead of their own life. This question is raised commonly in contemporary politics. In my opinion it is the individual’s choice if they so choose to donate time, money or any other resources to those in need. This decision should not be inflicted upon them. This ties back to Wolf’s original statement that “If you care about yourself you’re living as if you’re the center of the universe, which is false.” It is incongruous to believe that if you care about yourself you’re automatically implying that you are the center of the universe. Everyone who functions in society and is a normal human being, to a certain extent, cares about them self, which in my personal opinion is a good
Judith Lichtenberg successfully conveys her moral theory with many questions regarding her topics of abstractness, the sense of futility and ineffectiveness, overestimating our generosity, distance, the relativity of well-being, the power of shame, and the drops in the bucket. Using these practical and philosophical ideas she explains why we as a people should search to discover the obstacles that are preventing us from giving more, rather than the finding our charitable obligations and the amounts we should be giving. She leads us to the ideal of motivation and tells us to pay less attention to obligation, because without X being moved to do an act, does it really matter what the act was if X never induces the action?
Many centuries ago, people started thinking about the question “Who we are, where did we come from, and where are we going?” While seeking for the answers, many standpoints developed. Everyone has an opinion; when confronted with life’s decisions, even on what not to do and how to best stay away from regret. Then, another question was raised: can the individual ever be higher than the universal? Lead by the famous philosopher John Stuart Mill, many people believe that all are born selfish hedonists and get shaped by the culture and environment and eventually live for the society.
All our childhood years, our parents have taught us the importance of being selfless. Maybe that is by sharing with your siblings growing up, or just taking care of your elder grandma when she’s feeling under the weather. This important life, quality has been embroidered into our skins from such a young age; that our hearts are willing to help others in need. I know that not everyone is as willing to be selfless as others, but that is just a part of life. You aren’t always going to pick the sweetest apple from the tree, or in other words, some people are just not as altruistic as others. Furthermore, I think an important theme shown among British literature is the importance of being selfless and how it can impact your life. Throughout the stories in Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales, the aspect of being selfless is shown greatly among its characters and how their decision to be that way impacts their lives.
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...
Only ethical egoism allows each individual 's life to be of main importance to them.
It is not easy to always practice love and compassion to everyone. This is why similarly to Miller, I believe it is our human nature to favour those we are closest to, such as family and friends. We create special bonds and relationships with particular people and they become our main concern. These relationships may cause us to become self driven. However, this does not change the fact that we are all human beings and hold the same value as one another. We must continuously remind ourselves that others have it worse off, and that we have the means to help them. So why would we choose not to? It is important to help those in need, they do not deserve anything less than wealthier nations do. Therefore, wealthier nations should be obligated to dedicate a percentage of their resources and income to ensuring the wellbeing of individuals in other
As previously stated, there is a balance to be maintained between selflessness and selfishness. Logically speaking, you would always want to help people, but overexerting yourself to try and help them solve their problems, won’t really help anyone. These ideas are expressed in Selflessness and the Loss of Self (Hampton, Jean, and Daniel Farnham). The Intrinsic Worth of Persons: Contractarianism in Moral and Political Philosophy. New York: Cambridge UP, 2007.
According to Wolf, all meaningful lives have both a subjective and an objective aspect to them. These basics can make lives important only together. The general idea is that a person’s projects and activities in the end make his or her life meaningful,
People perpetrate seemingly selfless acts almost daily. You see it all over the news; the man who saved that woman from a burning building, the mother who sacrificed herself to protect her children from the bomb blast. But how benevolent are these actions? Are these so-called “heroes” really sacrificing themselves to help others? Until recently, it was the common belief that altruism, or selfless and unconditional kindness, was limited primarily to the human race. However, within the last century, the works of several scientists, most prominently George Price, have provided substantial evidence concluding that altruism is nothing more than a survival technique, one that can be calculated with a simple equation.
Many people wonder: what is the meaning of life? What is the human purpose on this earth? At least one time in our lifetime, we all look at ourselves and wonder if we are living our lives the way we were meant to live them. Sadly, there is not a definite answer to the principles of human life. Every human comes from different backgrounds and different experiences throughout their existence. Each person is different, each with different emotions and reactions to their surroundings. People strive to uncover the secrets to the meaning of life. In reality, humans are given the desire to live the way we want and have a critical thinking mind, unlike animals. In the essay Living like Weasels, Annie Dillard believes we should live more carefree and instinctual as weasels, but what we were given as humans is a gift that no other creature has – free will and choice to shape our own lives.
For someone who believes in psychological egoism, i t is difficult to find an action that would be acknowledged as purely altruistic. In practice, altruism, is the performance of duties to others with no view to any sort of personal...
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.
...esult, the more directly one sees their personal efforts impact someone else, the more happiness one can gain from the experience of giving. Sometimes generosity requires pushing past a feeling of reluctance because people all instinctively want to keep good things for themselves, but once one is over this feeling, they will feel satisfaction in knowing that they have made a difference in someone else’s life. However, if one lives without generosity but is not selfish, they can still have pleasure from other virtues.
An individual's internal values have the capacity to persuade them into doing what they otherwise wouldn’t be inclined to do. These sacrifices are made in the name of the "Greater Good", when a person's ideals lead them to visualize only what they want to protect, rather than themselves. Often humans are perceived as a selfish species, but as other species do, we also have protective instincts, and when those instincts kick in, we have the capacity to be remarkably self-abnegating. Self-abnegation is a quality that all of us obtain for something, but that something depends entirely on our person's values. Our values are the motivator for sacrificing ourselves. This selfless quality reveals itself when the circumstances
When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. We feel good for looking outside ourselves and contributin...