50 Ethics Ideas You Really Need to Know (50 Ideas You Really Need to Know series) by Dupré Ben

Author:Dupré, Ben [Dupré, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2013-09-25T23:00:00+00:00

the condensed idea

Natural endowments – or nonsense on stilts?

timeline

1690 John Locke argues that rights are natural, inalienable and universal

1785 Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative requires that people always be treated as ends

1795 Jeremy Bentham ridicules the idea that rights are natural

1948 The United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

1977 Ronald Dworkin introduces the idea of rights as trumps

27 Altruism

The idea of altruism – selflessly promoting the good of others, without consideration of one’s own interests – has always played a pivotal part in ethics, both religious and philosophical. Altruistic behaviour is seen not only in individuals who benefit others – for example, through acts of generosity, mercy, charity or philanthropy – but also in abstract bodies, including the state, which may be responsible for such benefactions as scholarships, welfare schemes, foreign aid and disaster relief.

In religious ethics, altruism and its close relative benevolence – the disposition to behave altruistically or kindly towards others – have usually been regarded as unequivocally good; they are, for instance, cornerstones of Christian morality. Philosophically, the notion of altruism is somewhat more contentious. For one thing, doubts have been raised about the moral value of philanthropy and charity, in that they imply an inherently unequal relationship between one who has more money (or some other good) than she needs and another who does not have enough; sometimes, therefore, they may serve as a fig-leaf for a broader social imbalance or dysfunction.

‘Of the voluntary acts of every man, the object is some good to himself.’

Thomas Hobbes, 1651

Duty bound? The extent to which benevolent acts are a matter of duty is also open to question. If justice consists in giving people their due (as Aristotle thought), there seems to be a duty or obligation to behave justly. If benevolence consists in giving people more than is strictly due to them, being benevolent appears to be beyond the call of duty, or optional, from a moral perspective – a moral ideal, perhaps, but not a duty. Many philosophers take a different view and argue that showing benevolent concern for others is a moral requirement. But if this is so, how much is required? What limit can or should be set on benevolence?

A tyranny against nature

One of the most virulent attacks on altruism (and conventional morality in general) was launched by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche towards the end of the 19th century. He regarded benevolence as a ‘tyranny against nature’ – an inversion or perversion of the natural order. Spurred on by the Christian Church and driven by resentment and jealousy, the weak and the ugly have initiated a ‘slave revolt’ against the strong and the beautiful. Cowed by morality’s weapons of guilt and blame, the best and noblest of humanity unwittingly connive in their own oppression and enslavement, blinded to their true and natural goal – the will to power.

More fundamentally, philosophers have long been divided over whether altruism really exists at all. Several of the ancient Greek sophists – basically, philosophers for hire – who

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