Is giving to charities or voluteering selfish?

Question

better said...
Is their any act that one could commit that would not be selfish, without thinking it could be beneficial?
for example:
I make friends because they benefit my sense of worth
I do good to others because it I think it benefits my soul
I do bad things because they seem like a good idea for me at the time

Answer 1

yes and no, don't make me go through this again!!!!

Answer 2

Circumstances and intent only effect the moral culpability of the individual committing the moral act, they do not in fact make a good moral act evil or vice versa. In this case Giving to charity for selfish reasons is not an example of "bad charity" The act (giving) remains charitable and "good" whereas the second example is a failure to act whatsoever. It is not a charitable act to do nothing and think charity is a good thing. It's like the old question; "Who has a better understanding of charity? The moral philosopher who remains a student and monastic all his life that never sets foot outside the walls of the seminary... or the ignorant illiterate peasant that spends his time and last dime caring for the less fortunate?

Answer 3

Volunteering to feel good is selfish, because you did it for yourself. If you volunteer for no particular reason, you might not even realize that you helped at the time. When you are not longer doing that activity and you get a good feeling of pride and accomplishment from that activity, then it was probably a selfless act.

Answer 4

I donate to charities (lots of them!) because I know the money gets put to good use. If I learn of other ways to help people, animals, the environment, a school, or whatever, I'll do that too if I can.
I do it because I love and care about people, animals, and the environment. I do it because I can, because someone has to, and because people have helped me in the past.
If that makes me selfish, I'm going straight to hell :)

Answer 5

Let's look at it this way...there is no satisfaction in giving to get.
There is in giving without expection. The fact is, if you give without expectation it's been found the reward of the effort comes back to you in spades but usually in a direction you least expect it.

Answer 6

Its the motivation behind the act that determines its nature.
If everything one does is first and and foremost with self benefit in consideration, then there is no virtue in it.

Answer 7

The true meaning of volunteering, is to enrich the lives of others. You don't do it to make yourself feel good, you do it because it is the right thing to do.

Answer 8

Here are words to describe selfish:

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: selfish
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: egotistic
Synonyms: egocentric, egoistic, egoistical, egomaniacal, egotistic, egotistical, greedy*, hog, mean, mercenary, miserly, narcissistic, narrow, narrow-minded, parsimonious, prejudiced, self-centered, self-indulgent, self-interested, self-seeking, stingy, ungenerous

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. * = informal or slang

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: covetous
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: greedy
Synonyms: acquisitive, avaricious, avid, close-fisted, eager, envious, esurient, gluttonous, grabby, grasping, green-eyed*, grudging, hogging, itchy*, jealous, jelly, keen, mercenary, piggish*, prehensile, rapacious, ravenous, selfish, swinish*, voracious, yearning

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. * = informal or slang

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: egocentric
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: conceited
Synonyms: egoistic, egoistical, egomaniacal, egotistic, egotistical, individualist, individualistic, megalomaniac, narcissistic, pompous, self-absorbed, self-centered, self-concerned, self-indulgent, self-interested, self-loving, self-serving, selfish, stuck-up, vainglorious

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: exclusive
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: restricted
Synonyms: absolute, aloof, aristocratic, chic, choice, chosen, circumscribed, clannish, classy, cliquish, closed, complete, confined, country club, discriminative, elegant, entire, exclusionary, exclusory, fashionable, full, independent, licensed, limited, narrow, only, particular, peculiar, posh, preferential, private, privileged, prohibitive, restrictive, ritzy, segregated, select, selfish, single, snobbish, socially correct, sole, swank, total, undivided, unique, upper crust*, whole

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. * = informal or slang

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: grasping
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: greedy
Synonyms: acquisitive, avaricious, avid, close-fisted, covetous, desirous, extorting, extortionate, grabby*, itchy*, mean, miserly, **********, penny-pinching*, penurious, prehensile, rapacious, selfish, stingy*, tightfisted*, usurious, venal

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. * = informal or slang

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: greedy
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: desiring
Synonyms: acquisitive, avaricious, avid, carnivorous, close, closed-fisted, covetous, craving, desirous, devouring, eager, edacious, esurient, gluttonous, gobbling, gormandizing, grabby, grasping, grudging, gulping, guzzling, hoggish*, hungry, impatient, insatiable, insatiate, intemperate, itchy*, miserly, *********, omnivorous, parsimonious, penny-pinching, penurious, piggish*, prehensile, rapacious, ravening, ravenous, selfish, stingy, surfeiting, swinish, tight*, tight-fisted*, voracious

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. * = informal or slang

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: inconsiderate
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: insensitive
Synonyms: boorish, brash, careless, discourteous, hasty, impolite, incautious, indelicate, intolerant, reckless, rude, self-centered, selfish, sharp, short, tactless, thoughtless, unceremonious, uncharitable, ungracious, unkind, unthinking

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: little
Part of Speech: adjective 3
Definition: narrow-minded
Synonyms: base, bigoted, borne, cheap, contemptible, hidebound, illiberal, ineffectual, limited, mean, narrow, *********, paltry, petty, provincial, self-centered, selfish, set, small, small-minded, vulgar, wicked

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: mean
Part of Speech: adjective 1
Definition: ungenerous
Synonyms: beggarly, close, greedy, mercenary, miserly, niggard, *********, parsimonious, penny-pinching*, penurious, rapacious, scrimpy, selfish, stingy, tight, tight-fisted*

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. * = informal or slang

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: mercenary
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: greedy
Synonyms: acquisitive, avaricious, bribable, corrupt, covetous, grabby, grasping, miserly, money-grubbing, selfish, sordid, stingy, unethical, unprincipled, unscrupulous, venal

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.