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Selfishness is being concerned excessively or exclusively for oneself or one's own advantage, pleasure, or welfare, regardless of others. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Selfishness is the opposite of altruism or selflessness, and has also been contrasted (as by C. S. Lewis ) with self-centeredness .
Altruism that ultimately serves selfish gains is thus differentiated from selfless altruism, but the general conclusion has been that empathy-induced altruism can be genuinely selfless. [39] The empathy-altruism hypothesis states that psychological altruism exists and is evoked by the empathic desire to help someone suffering.
The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism is a 1964 collection of essays by the philosopher Ayn Rand and the writer Nathaniel Branden. Most of the essays originally appeared in The Objectivist Newsletter .
One strategy by which ‘selfish genes’ may increase their future representation is by causing humans to be non-selfish, in the psychological sense." [9] This is a central topic within contemporary discourse of psychological egoism. [2] Philosophies of personal identity such as open individualism have implications for egoism and altruism.
The focus in rational selfishness might be considered to be more self-directed (where the benefit to the group or society is a possible by-product) than the focus of enlightened self-interest which is more group-directed (and the benefit to oneself might be more of the by-product). Some authors say that this concept elevates egoism to the level ...
Alternatively, the word is an amalgam of the Greek prefix hypo-, meaning "under", and the verb krinein, meaning "to sift or decide". Thus the original meaning implied a deficiency in the ability to sift or decide. This deficiency, as it pertains to one's own beliefs and feelings, informs the word's contemporary meaning. [7]
Merriam-Webster lists this definition of the former: “the quality or state of being selfish; a concern for one’s own welfare or advantage at the expense of or in disregard of others.” [4] Rand pointed out that this definition is self-contradictory because true concern for one’s own welfare (a state of genuine wellbeing) requires ...
Legalism is a Chinese political philosophy that holds that self-interest underlies human nature and therefore human behavior. [1] It is axiomatic in Legalism that a government can not truly be staffed by upright and trustworthy men of service, because every member of the elite—like any member of society—will pursue their own interests and thus must be employed for their interests. [2]