Selfishness and the Sublime

 merely the fact that there is a huge discrepancy between egoism and altruism means we should strive towards altruism. supposing psychological egoism to be true. as i have discussed elsewhere, we lack sufficient knowledge of the mind to make universal generalizations about our motives, they are simply too complex to fathom. but let us grant it as true for the sake of argument that humans are innately selfish and that is only a facade we put up when we are nice, and that egoism is an inescapable fact. precisely for this reason we should strive for altruism. because it raises us up from our animal nature in which we only look out for ourselves, to something sublime. that's why humans will never abolish altruism or any of its associated emotions like empathy, sympathy, compassion etc. maybe it is our ability to care for each other (no matter how false it may seem to us at the time) that makes us closer to divine beings. that's why nietzsche's project ails, because people look down on egoism. it is a sign of weakness to be unable to show compassion. it is a sign of strength or power to be compassionate. people want those who fight for good, and not for themselves. poetic justice pervades our popular culture. the hero is always the individual who fights for justice, which is society. the villain is the one who is only interested in himself. we look down on those who are cruel or heartless, we exalt those who sacrifice their own lives or wellbeing for others. empathy is older and more innate then the lust for power. what kind of world would that look like? one in which it is a weakness to be kind, and where cruelty is encouraged. wouldn't such a civilization implode? moreover, what does it matter if our altruistic acts are unconsciously selfish? does it matter for the outcome of a good deed? as long as we perform that action, that is all that counts. are we doing ourselves harm by suppressing our egos, we would get sick of thinking of ourselves all the time. life would seem e meaningless. contrary to nietzsche's point that a world of selflessness would make people desperate to return to egoism, its more likely that a a world of egoism would drive us to altruism. why do we sympathize with others? because we know it could happen to us. when a terrorist shoots up a disco, we think... now that could happen again and it could be us.

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