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Atheist Forums › Community › Philosophy v
Is everything we do self serving?

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Is everything we do self serving?
Oldandeasilyconfused Offline
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Religious Views: Agnostic Atheist
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#10
RE: Is everything we do self serving?
January 19, 2012 at 1:23 am
Quote:If the question is simply does altruism exist, then the answer is no

Positive claim; proof?

Last time I looked, nobody had yet developed the skill of mind reading. Hence we cannot say with certainty what the motivation of any given act might be. Based on observation of people's behaviour,all I'm able to say is that there SEEMS to be altruistic acts, many. However,so far I'm unaware of having ever come across a consistently altruistic person.

We humans are only just another species of animal after all. It seems reasonable to me to assume we are motivated by self interest (survival) just like all other animals. It would be nice to think we sometimes rise above our animal nature.Sadly I'm unable to assert that is the case with any confidence.
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Atheist Forums › Community › Philosophy v
Is everything we do self serving?

Messages In This Thread
Is everything we do self serving? - by Pel - January 18, 2012 at 7:04 am
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by KichigaiNeko - January 18, 2012 at 9:07 am
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by houseofcantor - January 22, 2012 at 10:01 pm
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by Violet - January 18, 2012 at 9:39 am
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by The Magic Pudding - January 18, 2012 at 10:11 am
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by Anomalocaris - January 18, 2012 at 10:38 am
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by genkaus - January 18, 2012 at 3:00 pm
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by padraic - January 18, 2012 at 5:23 pm
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by Welsh cake - January 18, 2012 at 5:54 pm
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by Perhaps - January 18, 2012 at 8:10 pm
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by padraic - January 19, 2012 at 1:23 am
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by Perhaps - January 19, 2012 at 1:37 am
RE: Is everything we do self serving? - by genkaus - January 19, 2012 at 2:15 am

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