22 Rising above altruism
On one level, the word altruism is the empty set. It has a definition but contains no elements. Why no substance? Psychological hedonism teaches that selfless concern for others gives satisfaction, which is a selfish reward. (Nothing is completely selfless.) To avoid circular reasoning, let us rephrase the question. We ask merely whether an action is beneficial. There is no need to isolate a beneficiary or to define “selfish” by distinguishing self from others. Self-oriented passages of the Old Testament are isolationist and genocidal, separating “us” from “them” (the group level of “self” and “non-self”). On the other hand, some …