Topics Ethics

Question I don't know whether this question is stupid or not, but I have been thinking over it for a long time and couldn't find an answer, so decided to post it. I think that everyone does what he/she feels good by doing. Those who help others, do good to others do so because they feel good by doing so. More than helping others, i think that the motivating factor is their sense of achievement of having done something that drives them. Those who find happiness in other things like money pursue happiness in that way. Then why is it that most of the people consider, or at least show, that those who do good or help others are better than those who run after money. Both are pursuing happiness in their sense, that is being selfish. I agree that those who help others/do good make others happy certainly do a better job, but ultimately if you see it is that they feel good/satisfied/happy with their work and that's why they do it. Ultimately it boils down to the point that they are doing it for themselves, NOT for others.

Accepted:
July 29, 2011

Comments

Your question isn't stupid; variations on it have been discussed many times on this site, and the issue itself has been around for a long time. There's a subtler and a less subtle point. Start with the less subtle.

You say "I think that everyone does what he/she feels good by doing. Those who help others, do good to others do so because they feel good by doing so." But this just seems wrong. Most people I know have had plenty of experiences of doing something that didn't make them feel good at all. They did it because it was what had to be done or because it was just clearly the right thing to do. So your claim about the facts seems wrong. You might say (many have) that they know they'll feel bad if they don't do whatever it is that needs to be done, and that this is their real reason. But there are two problems here. The first is that, once again, it's just not obvious that this fits the facts. But it also brings us to the subtler point. Even if as a matter of fact, I feel guilty when I don't do what I think I should do, that doesn't mean I did it in order to avoid the bad feeling. I may have done it because it's what had to be done.

The view you're offering has a name: psychological egoism. My comments just summarize the usual reply -- a plausible reply, I think. But there's a danger of slipping into a new error. When I do something intentionally, I do it for a reason. The reason, of course, is mine. That might tempt someone to think that I do it for myself. But that would be a confusion. The reason is mine but what the reason is about may not be me at all. Getting confused about that would amount to a kind of egoism-by-definition that has even less to recommend it.