Should we redefine altruism?
To better serve humanity
If altruism was simply defined as aiding another person it would be a fine word for a fine thing. But because it’s defined as a selfless act it’s a nonsense word for a non-existent thing.
No self can commit a selfless act. No self can unself itself, except by suicide. The decisions we make to aid others come from the self. They manifest the self’s desires and values. Those desires and values are manifold…
- We help people because of pleasure — it makes us feel good.
- We help people to avoid the empathetic pain we feel when others suffer
- We help people to “pay it forward,” demonstrating behavior we hope others will emulate when we are in need
- We help people for aesthetic reasons — to make the world less ugly
- We help others for social status, so that others will think well of us
These forms of reward can be overlooked because too many of us think of self-interest, profit, and gain in purely monetary or materialistic terms. But that would make our motivations one-dimensional when they are clearly multi-dimensional.
I hold this truth to be self-evident but overlooked — we profit from our charitable acts. We have a self-interest in the fate of others.
We must come to realize that…
- Monetary and material gain are NOT the only forms of profit
- Profit and pleasure are good things, not bad
- Self-interest and love are compatible
- Selfless altruism does not exist, nor should it, nor could it
We need not go so far as the macho-flashing Ayn Rand and declare that selfishness is a virtue. Selfishness and self-interest are not the same thing. Selfishness is not a virtue. It is the impetus for aggression and fraud. But we also must not go so far as the Left, and smear profit and self-interest with the taint of sin.
Selfless altruism does not exist. So why have a word for it? We should redefine the word altruism to make it true and useful. Altruism, properly understood and properly defined, is simply the act of aiding others. There is nothing selfless about it.
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Copyright © Perry Willis 2025
Perry Willis is the co-founder of Downsize DC and the Zero Aggression Project. He co-created, with Jim Babka, the Read the Bills Act, the One Subject at a Time Act, and the Write the Laws Act, all of which have been introduced in Congress. He is a past Executive Director of the national Libertarian Party and was the campaign manager for Harry Browne for President in 2000.
