Altruism or Benevolence?
This is an area badly in need of clarification. So, with a little help from some perceptive minds, let's explore: There is a great confusion in the minds of most people concerning the nature of altruism or that it derives from the principle of benevolence, good will and kindness toward others.Advocates of altruism take great pains to encourage this belief--to establish a "package deal" so as to conceal from their victim the actual meaning of altruist morality .
The view that altruism and benevolence are the same is a great error. Altruism holds that man must makethe others above self. Such a view is worse than mistaken; it is a perversion entailed in the technique called "the big lie."It represents the exact opposite of the truth;altruism and benevolence are not only different, they are mutually inimical. man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the moral justification of his existence, that self-sacrifice is his foremost duty.A philosophy that tells man that he is no more than a sacrificial animal . This is not an expression of benevolence or good will.
Let us do a thought experiment, a device which served Einstein so well.:Ask yourself what your reaction would be if the person you loved were to tell you:"Don't imagine that I want to marry you out of any selfish expectation of pleasure.Don't imagine that I see anything to admire in you,or that I find your company interesting, or that I enjoy our relationship any manner whatever.In fact, I find you boring and thoughrolly unappealing.But, I wouldn't be so selfish as to seek anything personally from our marriage.Don't imagine that your thoughts or feelings are of any actual interest to me or that I do any of the things I do for you because I care for your happiness -- don't think that there's anything in it for me whether you're happy or not. I'm not an egoist, after all I'm marrying you out of pity,out of charity, as a duty I'm marrying you out of compassion for your flaws, not admiration for your virtues because I know that you need me. I'm doing it as an act of sef sacrifice"
The view that altruism and benevolence are the same is a great error. Altruism holds that man must makethe others above self. Such a view is worse than mistaken; it is a perversion entailed in the technique called "the big lie."It represents the exact opposite of the truth;altruism and benevolence are not only different, they are mutually inimical. man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the moral justification of his existence, that self-sacrifice is his foremost duty.A philosophy that tells man that he is no more than a sacrificial animal . This is not an expression of benevolence or good will.
Let us do a thought experiment, a device which served Einstein so well.:Ask yourself what your reaction would be if the person you loved were to tell you:"Don't imagine that I want to marry you out of any selfish expectation of pleasure.Don't imagine that I see anything to admire in you,or that I find your company interesting, or that I enjoy our relationship any manner whatever.In fact, I find you boring and thoughrolly unappealing.But, I wouldn't be so selfish as to seek anything personally from our marriage.Don't imagine that your thoughts or feelings are of any actual interest to me or that I do any of the things I do for you because I care for your happiness -- don't think that there's anything in it for me whether you're happy or not. I'm not an egoist, after all I'm marrying you out of pity,out of charity, as a duty I'm marrying you out of compassion for your flaws, not admiration for your virtues because I know that you need me. I'm doing it as an act of sef sacrifice"
