Selfishness: An Unjust Morality
Many people may argue that selfishness is an unjust morality, due to the popular belief that “man exists in order to serve others” (Rand, 146). I, however, regard selfishness to be a quality that is crucial to every person’s being. When there is no selfishness, individuals become engaged in altruism. I believe that altruism is ultimately distracting from the individual’s sense of self. One should not worry themselves with the difficulties of others, for they shall become engulfed in those difficulties, themselves. It is my belief that “man’s first duty is to himself” (Rand, 147). His actions must reflect his own desires and selfishness, not the desires of those around him. Without selfishness, individuals do “not think, judge, feel, or act”
Examples Of Selfishness In Till We Have Faces
961 Words | 4 PagesIn today’s world, one can find many instances of selfishness, whether it be corruption, killing, or even breaking a heart. However, like a diamond in the rough, someone who is truly selfless is hard to come by. One example of a selfless writer is C.S. Lewis, author of Till We Have Faces. Lewis wrote some of his novels in a way to not only educate the world that selflessness will always win but also the fact that selfishness will always lose. One of Lewis’s notable works -- “Till We Have Faces” -- clearly demonstrates how selfishness loses but selflessness wins.
Puritans Selfless Or Selfish
278 Words | 2 PagesI agree with the people who said the Puritans were both selfless and selfish. According to Document A: 'City upon a Hill, ' the leader of the 1630 migration, John Winthrop suggested that everyone work together to achieve prosperity. He specifically says, "We must be knit together in this work as one man; we must take care of each other with bortherly affection." He seemed to be driving people into working for one another rather than for oneself. Unlike the failed attempt at settling in Jamestown, the Puritans seemed to be on the right path to success (by working selflessly and helping one another).
The Thursday Wars Quotes
590 Words | 3 PagesThe great Richard Bach once said “Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.” Often people overlook the fact that their conscience is telling them that they are selfish, but it is up to them to fix it. In his novel, The Wednesday wars, Gary Schmidt highlights the dangers of being selfish and self-centered through the changes of Holling Hoodhood.
Selfishness In The Short Story Box Nine By Rob Thomas
391 Words | 2 PagesNot caring for others can make someone not see the big things in life. In the short story Box Nine by Rob Thomas, a girl named Teesha is doing a community service project during Thanksgiving to give food to the poor in order to walk the stage for graduation. Teesha is accompanied with other students throughout this community service project who don’t care about the poor people and only about themselves. Selfishness can make a person not care for others because the students questioned the poor people's life choices. When the students delivered box six the students saw a man puffing cigarettes and wondered why he was able to afford cigarettes and not food.
Examples Of Sacrifice In The Kite Runner
1449 Words | 6 PagesSelf-sacrifice can be defined as an individual gives up his own interest for satisfying the needs of others. When an individual faces a compelling circumstance, he steps on others to help himself to gain prestige and position for himself while leaving those stepped on in the dust. An individual who benefits from other’s sacrifice is more willing to embrace the idea of sacrificing others. It may not cause worry or guilt immediately. However, the guilty feeling of sacrificing others keeps an individual awakes at night and struggles to redeem himself.
Selfishness In The Crucible
127 Words | 1 PagesBut sometime being selfish make us a stronger and better person.
Emerson's Self-Reliance Rhetorical Analysis
420 Words | 2 PagesAcceptable ‘Selfishness’ Ralph Waldo Emerson starts “Self-Reliance” with emphasis upon self-thought rather than submissively accepting someone else’s ideas. He promotes the idea that personal knowledge from experience is in a higher tier than knowledge gained from books. He says, “To believe that what is true in your private heart is true for all men — that is genius” (1004). People who rely on someone else’s opinions lack the creative power necessary for intrepid, unfaltering individualism.
The Wrong Way To Get People To Do The Right Thing By Alfie Kohn
475 Words | 2 PagesIn the article, "The Wrong Way to Get People to Do the Right Thing," author Alfie Kohn describes how humans do kind things in their own self-interest. Kohn states that using "rewards, and invocations of self-interest, to promote generosity creates a powerful, self-reproducing framework" that explains widespread selfishness too well. While society has taught selflessness in giving, Kohn uses a variety of examples and studies to successfully persuade the reader that when a reward is involved, humans become selfish. Kohn begins his argument with a series of examples from fairy tales to religious traditions and how they demonstrate the idea of self-enlightenment when doing kind things for others. Specifically, he describes a charity advertisement
Weston's Ethical Theory
866 Words | 4 PagesIf we were all less self-centered, and more mindful of others feelings, there would be less hurt in the world. According to Kant’s idea, humans should not be treated as “means to an end”, but rather as “ends in themselves” (Weston p.51). We should not use one another to help ourselves, rather to see them as individuals that can help each
How Did Lawson Influence The Civil Rights Movement
1786 Words | 8 PagesAltruism is the belief or practice of selflessness or selfless concern for the wellbeing of others (Oxford Dictionary). Lawson’s life is parallel to the meaning of altruism. American Psychologist, Jaqueline Mattis delves deep into the study of altruism and what causes the selflessness of one’s self. Mattis uses the definition of “someone who does something for the other and for the other's sake, rather than as a means to self-promotion or internal well-being…” (Oliner p. 53).
Brave New World Selfish Quotes
755 Words | 4 PagesMany people throughout their lives at least once acted recklessly and irrationally to overcome challenges. Without thinking thoughtfully, the actions they performed may have harmed others or themselves. This is why the phrase, “think before you act” is created, to prevent others from performing tactless maneuvers to satisfy their challenges and emotions. In the novel, A Brave New World, Aldous Huxley suggests that individuals who act recklessly in the face of adversity will fail miserably; these reckless actions will cause despair and grief for the individual or others because of their lack of thinking and overwhelming of emotions. In A Brave New World, author Aldous Huxley introduced an Alpha-Plus male named Bernard Marx.
Ayn Rand's The Virtue Of Selfishness
530 Words | 3 PagesIn Ayn Rand’s The Virtue of Selfishness, Rand trusts in the Objectivist ethics, which proudly advocates for rational selfishness. Most people think that when a man speaks of existing for his own self (selfishness), that he believes in a right to sacrifice others. Rand disagrees with this belief stating that a man’s self-interest can in fact be served by non-sacrificial relationships with others; selfish humans do not need to destroy others in order to achieve happiness. According to Rand, a man who is selfish is called a trader. A trader is a man who earns what he gets, treats everyone as independent equals, and does not grant his love to the weaknesses or flaws of others.
What Makes Right Acts Right Analysis
728 Words | 3 PagesJieni Peng CA1 “What Makes Right Acts Right” by W.D Ross In the article “What Makes Right Acts Right” by W.D Ross, he debates the about idea of duties and how humans in general understand if their actions are correct. Ross mentions that humans do not deliberately execute their duties because of the consequences resulting from those duties. Rather, they perform those duties because of an innate form of common sense that humans possess inside of themselves. One example of this is the act of fulfilling a promise that an individual made to themselves or others not because of the end results but because of their sense of “duty.”
Analysis Of Harry Browne's 'The Unselfishness Trap'
919 Words | 4 PagesBrowne mentions that, “In fact, we can’t avoid a very significant conclusion: Everyone is selfish. Selfishness isn’t really an issue, because everyone selfishly seeks his own happiness” (Browne 154). He then goes on to state that, “The unselfishness concept is a merry-go-round that has no ultimate purpose” (Browne 155). In
Chivalry In Today's Society
1066 Words | 5 PagesThe word altruism may come to mind for some. When performing acts of kindness we
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