There is no such thing as an unselfish deed

[SoreArms]

Everything is done for selfish reasons, whether it be personal satisfaction, ease of conscience or personal gain. Anyone who says or thinks that they have done an unselfish deed in their life is not only lying to you, but they are also lying to themselves.

 

[HiDnGoD]

I can't friggin believe it. Someone else as honest as me.
I've told people that & they always argue.
I totally agree.

 

[samoth]

Moved to philosophy forum.

 

[anthrax]

What about Mother Theresa?

 

[nycgirl]

Moved to philosophy forum.

Oh, I wish.

I agree w/ you Volva.

But, is there a difference between doing a good deed concicously or subconciously for selfish reasons?

Is there a hierarchy of selfish reasons? Or are all good deeds worth the same despite the reason?

 

[SoreArms]

What about Mother Theresa?

she was trying to get into heaven and high in the ranks of Jesus, personal gain

 

[KillahBee]

No doubt.

 

[SoreArms]

Oh, I wish.

I agree w/ you Volva.

But, is there a difference between doing a good deed concicously or subconciously for selfish reasons?

Is there a hierarchy of selfish reasons? Or are all good deeds worth the same despite the reason?

there's nothing wrong with doing deeds for selfish reasons, or any other reason since there are often several benefactors from the deed. Say you give money to the poor, you then feel good about yourself, deem yourself a good person and maybe even better than those that do not give money to the poor. In tandem with stroking your ego and getting a nice tax write off, you also did actually help poor people. 1 deed, 2 (possibly more) benefactors.

 

[H_T_]

yeah, i guess you might have something here, compadre. when i do a good deed, it's usually my way of "banking" a favor for myself. interesting querie.....

 

[nycgirl]

there's nothing wrong with doing deeds for selfish reasons, or any other reason since there are often several benefactors from the deed. Say you give money to the poor, you then feel good about yourself, deem yourself a good person and maybe even better than those that do not give money to the poor. In tandem with stroking your ego and getting a nice tax write off, you also did actually help poor people. 1 deed, 2 (possibly more) benefactors.

I'm about to do a good deed specifically to make a name for myself & business. Its the most selfish good deed I have ever done. Now, does that make my "good deed" less than someone like Mother Theresa or what you described above.

 

[HiDnGoD]

I have done some things for my wife, that I didn't want to do, but I did to make her happy. Most unselfish thing I've ever done. However I still got a small 'high' for being unselfish, so I got something out of it.

 

[Smurfy]

pay it forward, bro.

 

[SoreArms]

I'm about to do a good deed specifically to make a name for myself & business. Its the most selfish good deed I have ever done. Now, does that make my "good deed" less than someone like Mother Theresa or what you described above.

I'm not judging the level or validity of deeds, I'm simply making the statement that an unselfish deed does not exist. Your deed will probably benefit you much more than anything Mother Teresa ever did so your selfish deed has a much higher value to you.

 

[jd_uk]

Yep, i say the same thing.

But if someone takes pleasure in seeing other people happy then it may still be selfish but there's no harm in that.

 

[nycgirl]

I'm not judging the level or validity of deeds, I'm simply making the statement that an unselfish deed does not exist. Your deed will probably benefit you much more than anything Mother Teresa ever did so your selfish deed has a much higher value to you.

I'm not saying your judging. Just trying to open up a debate.

 

[SoreArms]

I have done some things for my wife, that I didn't want to do, but I did to make her happy. Most unselfish thing I've ever done. However I still got a small 'high' for being unselfish, so I got something out of it.

If you didn't do whatever it is you didn't want to do in thefirst palce, you'd have your wife to answer to. So you really did it to save yourself a confrontation, fight, denial of sex privilidges, having to hear her nag or whatever the consequences might have been.

 

[SoreArms]

I'm not saying your judging. Just trying to open up a debate.

ok, so does the second sentence answer your question about the leve of it's validity?

 

[jd_uk]

Yep, i say the same thing.

But if someone takes pleasure in seeing other people happy then it may still be selfish but there's no harm in that.

 

[EnderJE]

Everything is done for selfish reasons, whether it be personal satisfaction, ease of conscience or personal gain. Anyone who says or thinks that they have done an unselfish deed in their life is not only lying to you, but they are also lying to themselves.

Agreed!

Everyone is a liar and a thief.

 

[JonPee]

What about accidents? They're deeds and aren't selfish.

 

[Lestat]

ahh the altruism argument, been had many times by people way smarter then most of us here. Will never be fully agreed upon.

 

[Sub-Zero]

Everything is done for selfish reasons, whether it be personal satisfaction, ease of conscience or personal gain. Anyone who says or thinks that they have done an unselfish deed in their life is not only lying to you, but they are also lying to themselves.

this is common knowledge, id expect a thread like this from EIG

 

[Sub-Zero]

What about Mother Theresa?

she was ugly and thought she would get some "awww, shes so nice" cawk

 

[HiDnGoD]

she was ugly and thought she would get some "awww, shes so nice" cawk

 

[nycgirl]

What about accidents? They're deeds and aren't selfish.

For example, you lose ten dollars and someone finds it.

I guess it depends on your reaction when you realize you lost the money.

Good question.

 

[redguru]

What about Mother Theresa?

I did her

 

[Testosterone boy]

Psychobabble balderdash