Is it possible to do something good for someone and gain nothing in return? Wouldn't that warm fuzzy feeling you get after doing a good deed be considered a gain?
2006-08-30 21:55:07 · 22 answers · asked by butterfly 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Do you believe in karma? What goes around comes around? If so, is karma your motivation for doing good? If it is, then does this mean that you are not truly self-less? And does it matter if we are not truly self-less?
2006-08-30 22:26:55 · update #1
A self-less act,just a moment........nope you've got me there.
2006-08-30 22:01:48 · answer #1 · answered by havanadig 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personally, I question even the concept of the self. Are we not in some way an interconnected species? We may exist as individuals, but as time progresses and constantly redefines what we often associate with "self", I have to wonder if we are even the same person that we were the day before or just another step in a constant river of change.
Outside of the Buddhist ataman philosophy, I would have to consider applying Newton's Third Law of Motion in that every action has an equal reaction in the opposite direction. By that, I suggest that we cannot touch another person without being touched ourselves by that person. While still merely a hypothesis, I believe that it fairly well describes human interaction, so by that, I don't think that we can have any truly selfless acts unless we do not act at all.
However, that is not a bad thing. Indeed, it is a multiplying effect as any real good that we do is reflected back at us. We do have to be careful in defining good as one person may receive good actions but at the expense of another person, which works out to be a wash overall. (For example, picking my answer as best is good for me, but it comes at the cost of everyone else not being picked). Fortunately, life is not just a competition, but involves a great deal of cooperation, where a group of individuals create good for themselves without impacting others negatively.
Having a selfish aspect is not an evil that must be overcome. Indeed, perhaps having this selfish aspect is what allows us to survive and be a benefit for all humankind. I believe that this is an important lesson that needs to be learned if we are to flourish as a species.
2006-08-31 01:26:40 · answer #2 · answered by Ѕємι~Мαđ ŠçїєŋŧιѕТ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would have to say that that is something unavoidable, and is not considered something that is done for gain.
Another train of thought is that you do some great deed, and when you go to claim the reward, (it wasn't presented to you on the spot), you hit your head so hard you get amnesia. Thus not getting anything in return.
Or on another train of thought...You are somehow devoid of right and wrong, so any good deeds done won't give you a warm fuzzy feeling.
Or (last one)... You have done sooo many good deeds that the warm fuzzy feeling has lost all meaning.
In all cases gifts offered are refused, (except for the amnesia hypothesis).
CyberNara
2006-08-30 22:19:27 · answer #3 · answered by Joe K 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
an act could be truly self-less. you might not even have the warm fuzzy feeling. one philosopher, Immanuel Kant, thought that if you performed an act FOR the warm fuzzy feeling, it wouldn't be really good. Only acts done in a purely self-less way are truly good. I don't think Kant is right, but that's what he says (see Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals)
the trouble is, even if an act really were truly self-less, you probaby could never be sure that it was. even if you didn't have that warm fuzzy feeling, if you just knew that the act was good, you could never be sure that you did it because it was good or because YOU wanted to (be the one to) do a good thing.
my own view is that acts don't have to be self-less to be good. why shouldn't we be happy at doing good things? and why shouldn't we have the warm fuzzy feeling?
my only qualification is that there is a difference in being good and doing good. when you DO good for a self-ISH reason, you are not BEING good (you might not be actually bad, but you aren't being good). For example, suppose you save a child from drowning because you see that cameras are nearby and you will become a big hero. You were doing good but you weren't really being good. You should save the child because it is right and good to do so.
2006-08-30 22:07:43 · answer #4 · answered by artful dodger 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes but i would say extremely rare. Most people do things for some sort of gain like to feel good even. I would say a self-less act would be one you do for not reason other then it was the right thing to do. Something like pushing someone out of the way of a car or some such.
2006-08-30 22:04:24 · answer #5 · answered by CoCo-Puffs 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. There isn't a truly selfless act because our actions require motivation of some sort. When we act it's because we believe in what we are doing or that something will come of it. There is always some sort of personal gain associated with action even if it is nothing more than a good feeling or the fulfillment of a habit or pattern of action.
2006-08-30 22:03:24 · answer #6 · answered by spiderspell 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A self-less act is not when nothing good comes back to you but just that was not your reasoning for doing the act. Every good or self-less thing you do will bring about something good for you. It's a universal law!
2006-08-30 21:59:12 · answer #7 · answered by Rock N' Roll Junkie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Isn't doing nothing really doing something or not having a belief a belief in its self ? That warm feeling is always their if you are looking for it . There are many ways to look an act of kindness , like a selfless act is just one way to find it . I believe the answer is yes
2006-08-30 22:21:56 · answer #8 · answered by wayne k 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your "objective" is to help another person out who is in trouble then you have commited a self-less act. The warm fuzzy feeling that you get in return is your "reward".
2006-08-31 00:19:51 · answer #9 · answered by Rustic 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i don't think of there is such an act while you're even ruling out feeling sturdy approximately it sub-consciously. yet I even have paid for issues for human beings and no person knows it. I even have walked as much as human beings and advised them to have relaxing and given them loose passes into the zoo. i think of each and every time you have the prospect to do a random act of kindness you're able to. you do not desire compliment for each thing you do.
2016-10-01 03:05:10 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i recently read about a lady that drowned saving the little girl she was a nanny for, and she left behind 2 children of her own. i believe that it was about as "self-less" as you can possibly get.
i do believe in karma, but it's not my driving force in doing right...i was brought up to just do that. i do believe "do unto others as you would have done to you!" i don't always get that "warm fuzzy feeling," i'm just glad that i was able to help. nothing more!
2006-08-31 04:03:14 · answer #11 · answered by thundakat312 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋