Ethics the Fundamentals – Julia Driver
#2
Chapter 2 and Egoism
In this
chapter, Driver examines psychological egoism and whether there could possibly
be any value in such a self-centered trait. When describing psychological egoism,
it is important to understand that the only thing on the mind of the person is
their own well-being and self-interest. According to Driver, psychological
egoism “concerns how people actually behave, not how they ought to behave,”
(pg. 39). This is an interesting concept and really makes me think of and
compare the concept to young children. Once children reach a certain age, for the
most part, they know right from wrong and how to be good or if they are
misbehaving. When Driver describes this type of egoism, it is in relation to
adult behavior.
Driver also
describes the extreme contrast between psychological egoism and altruist
actions which only take in to consideration the welfare of others. Those that
weigh heavily on the side of psychological egoism cannot comprehend that a
person would do something with only the interest of others in mind. An example
used would be someone giving a donation to a charity. This was so interesting
to me because I work at Drake University and my job is to fund-raise for support
dollars from alumni and friends of the University. The argument states that a
person only gives money to an organization because it will ultimately benefit
them personally in the long run. I guess that according to those guidelines, I would
have to assume the last donation I received for a capital project was only
because the person is hopeful that the building will create some sort of business
opportunity or personal gain for them.
Because of
the field I am in, I strongly disagree with this position. Most of the people
that give do so because they have an established relationship with the
University and want to support an organization that they strongly believe in.
They also want to continue to help it grow and thrive for future generations to
come—a very altruistic point of view.
After reading your blog, I reflected on personal charitable contributions I've made in the past and tried to identify my motives, if any, for each. I certainly haven't contributed a significant enough amount where I would have any reasonable expectation of gaining notoriety from the donation. But was each donation simply out of the goodness of my heart?
ReplyDeleteIn honest evaluation, many of my personal donations have come upon the request of a friend, family member or acquaintance participating in some event or fundraiser. I feel like a part of me made those donations thinking, "I'll scratch your back now, and maybe you'll scratch mine someday." Now, obviously that wasn’t my main motivation for donating, but I'm certain it passed through my thoughts. As awful as I feel for admitting it, I honestly can say I’ve thought, “I need to support my friends in their passions if I have any desire they’ll support me in mine.”
Basically, I think majority of people have good motives for donating to causes near and dear to their heart, but there can be a combination of reasons that contribute to the decision, including personal motives or a hope for something in the future.