The Study Of Altruism Moral Philosophy

The relationship between the “self-interests” and “others-interests” has always been the most important problem in the moral philosophy.This is also the core issue of the study of altruism moral philosophy.According to the point of view of egoism,everyone ultimately seeks to maximize one’s own self-interest.If "egoism" is a deeply ingrained a in human nature,how can a altruistic action become the reason for my action? To solve this problem,this thesis is divided into three parts: “the dilemmas of egoism”,“the four approaches of altruism moral philosophy”,and “ the two ways to promote altruism”.In the first chapter,we discussion about the dilemmas of egoism moral philosophy.Egoism contains the dilemmas of theory and practice,the criticism of altruism form egoism,and the response of altruism.The first section in chapter one,in the dilemmas of theory,we will discuss three kinds of egoism moral philosophy,psychological egoism,evolutionary egoism,and ethical egoism.In the psychological egoism,the theory first always make the mistake of "the argument form of infinite retrogression".The psychological egoism states that sometimes we are self-deceived about our motivation,but whenever we overcome self-deception and really look deep into our motivational schemes,we can find an essential selfishness.If we look as deep as we can and still don’t come up with a selfish motive,the egoist will responds that you just haven’t looked deep enough.Secondly,moral philosophy should talk about “ought to”,not the description of the psychological state to the current action.Finally,psychological egoism can not solve the “paradox of hedonism”.In the theory of evolutionary egoism,the reason for the priority of egoism is human should have place the right to maintain the basic survival of the individual at first.but evolutionary egoism can not explain the existence of“universal love”.The biggest problem of evolutionary egoism theory is to always confuse “self-preservation” and “egoism”.In the ethical egoism theory,the problem is ethical egoism always deduce from he psychological egoism.but there is no logical relationship between the two theories.The second section in chapter one,in the dilemmas of practice,we will discuss“each-we dilemmas”,“moral example dilemmas”,“Identity recognition dilemmas”,and so forth.The last section in chapter one,We will talk about the criticism of altruism form egoism,and the response of altruism.In the second chapter,we will discus the four approaches of altruism moral philosophy.Firstly,it discusses Hume’s emotional moral philosophy.Hume appeals to altruistic behavior in the moral principles based on human’s emotion.This “emotion”includes the moral sense,sympathy or conscience,or the public utility.Emotional moral philosophy patched up the conflicts of “self-interests” and “others-interests”through human emotions.Secondly,we analyzes the altruistic behavior in the utilitarianism moral philosophy.Utilitarianism has developed the idea of public utility in the emotionally moral philosophy.It pays attention to whether the result of a behavior can promote the total happiness of the whole.This will inevitably cause some people to make sacrifices for “the greatest good of human”.Utilitarianism requires that everyone should treat the “self-interests” and “others-interests” with the attitude of “impartial spectators”.Utilitarianism believes that everyone should pursue “universal happiness”.In this way,utilitarianism combines “self-interests” and “others-interests” together.Thirdly,it is the exposition of Rawls’ s new social contract theory.In the way of“veil of ignorance”,Rawls tried to connect people’s moral choice and self-interests under the condition of self-interests uncertain.The “veil of ignorance” cancels the difference between “self-interests” and “others-interests”Finally,we analysis the moral philosophy of Thomas Nagel.“how can altruism be the reason for my action ?” Nagel thinks,it is entirely dependent on people’s understanding of “self-concept”.the conception of oneself as merely a person among others equally real.However,different as they are,both are thought to be conceptions which we cannot escape,and are thought to provide that basis for ethical motivation which in other internalist theories is provided by various motives and desires.Therefore,human have both “subjective perspective” and “objective perspective”.The "prudence" under the "subjective perspective" is against the priority of the current action.The altruistic behavior under the “objective perspective” can eliminate the pain of ego.Nagel believes that the “objective perspective” of people make altruism possible.In the last chapter,we will discus two approaches to promote altruism.The first way is “ the internal approach”.In “ the internal approach”,we will talk about how to promote “the inner change of man”,it aims to solve “peoples problem”.This transformation is the promotion and change of the mind of people.People can acquire “the ability of love” by learning the philosophy of love.It can make people to concern “others-interests”,and can help people to have some good moral qualities.“love” is a bridge between “self-interests”and “others-interests”,it can solve the conflict between “self-interests” and “others-interests”.The second way is “ the external approach”.If we can establish a fair and just social system and distribution system,then we can adjust the relationship between the“self” and the “other” of the citizen.A fair and justice social system can make a reasonable definition of citizens’ rights and obligations.A reasonable distribution system can distribute “the basic goods” efficiently.A fair and just social system is the most powerful way for people to gradually improve their poor situation.In the point of view of the distribution of material resources,there is no perfect solution to solve the conflict between “self-interests” and “others-interests”.Because people always expect more.But in the spiritual world,“self-interests” and “othersinterests” is not in in a contradictory and opposite state.A person does not exist independently in the world.“The others”and “the world” are the necessary conditions for a person to exist in the world.The concern of“others-interests” is a necessary link for self realization and our mind perfect.From the spiritual world,we discuss the relationship between“self-interests” and “others-interests”,which is more valuable than discussing in material distribution.