Topics Ethics

Question I begin a selfless task with no thought of reward. While working, the possibility of being rewarded for my task occurs to me. Does this new thought invalidate the selflessness of my action, even though I began with "pure" motives? If I am able to drive thoughts of reward from my mind until I am done, does my action become selfless again? If the thought of reward spurs me on to do an even better job, does that tilt the scales even further away from my selflessness, or does it remain steady, because the task was only begun with "pure" intentions?

Accepted:
December 9, 2005

Comments

The new thought does not invalidate the selflessness of your action, but it is morally unimportant whether your act was completely selfless or not. Most actions are done from mixed motives, and all that is morally significant with regard to how the action reflects on your character is whether you would have done it even if you were not to be rewarded for doing it. And since you initiated the action without thinking about being rewarded, later thoughts are of no moral significance.

However, whether your act was morally good or right, or morally wrong or bad is not affected at all by whether your motives were selfless. Many immoral actions are done from selfless motives. Indeed, altruistic immorality probably results in far more harm than immoral actions done because of self-interest. Most of the people fighting in wars or performing terrorist acts are not doing so for self-interest, and may be acting from completely selfless motives.