From an atheist perspective aren't most behaviours ultimately selfish and part of our survival instinct?

Question

I'm trying to think of some that aren't and I think of having children, but you don't do that for the child, you do it for yourself.

I think of charity. But don't we do that to avoid feelings of guilt or perhaps in the hopes of building our character or otherwise making ourselves feel good?

Do we really ever do anything good for others to our own detriment or less, something that isn't ultimately in some way to our benefit (not necessarily material benefit)?

I mean vs. a religious perspective where people only do good things because a god told them to.

Answer 1

This is the core of cynicism, which I happen to know a little about. (wink, wink) This can be applied to the Crucifiction as well. If there is any fact to the Biblical account, Did Jesus sacrifice himself, or was his act selfish. He, being a man that believed in God, and furthermore believed that God was his father and wanted him to do this, his motivation would have been a desire to please his father, not to help man.
"Father why have you forsaken me?"
This can be applied to any and all actions, from giving a homeless man money, to killing him, to jumping on a handgrenade. You content yourself first and foremost.

Answer 2

This was a topic that was covered in a psychology class I had several years ago. Basically there is nothing that we do that doesn't have a selfish intent.

I agree with that. If I see a homeless person on the street asking for money and I give him a few bucks, it is most likely to avoid feeling guilty that I did not help him.

I believe that celebrities who give to causes are typically doing so for the fame and notoriety that they will get for doing so. Look at how much fame Oprah has obtained.

Best example yet, look at Bill Gates. For years Bill Gates was portrayed as this evil man running this huge monopoly. Now, ever since he decided to help people in Africa, suddenly he is a great man and Microsoft no longer seems to be targeted by the antitrust laws. Coincidence? I think not.

Answer 3

I have had this discussion many times before. Ultimately you can claim that all behaviour is selfish because even if it appears altruistic you are only doing it because you feel good about it, but this seems to me to be a tautology.

I open a door for someone else, this gives me no benefit other than knowing it was the right thing to do, if you define that as selfish you are just defining altruism out of the lexicon.

Edit:

Clearly it has an evolutionary basis, co-operaotors do better than cheaters in an evolutionary stable society.

Answer 4

Charitable acts and charitable giving are two different things. If a tribe member or family member falls ill we'll care for it - at least until the lions come, then we'll carry him to safety if we can or just abandon him/her. It is about preserving our genes (our cousin's genes are like ours) and very selfish. Imagine you're out raking the leaves and some kid wanders into the street in front of your house and you hear a car coming - you yell at the kid or the car or something - it's automatic. Giving money is a purely rational proxy for that activity. Rational acts are not automatic. If I see a shiny toy on the way to church I may just buy the toy and put less in the collection plate. I still want the benefit the money in the collection plate might offer - no drunks or dead bodies in the streets - I just have to think through all the connections from me and the $20 in my pocket, through the collection plate, to some halfway house or detox center to the good result.

Answer 5

I'm a Christian so maybe my answer is void to you, since love that is totally unselfish does not make sense from an evolutionary perspective, but it does from a creationist perspective. But what about when people risk their lives to save others? I once heard about a cat that got burned really badly while going into a burning building to save her kittens. They were not burnt at all, so obviously she sheilded them with her own body. Cats do not worry about guilt or doing good deeds just to make them feel good. There are also animals the raise and protect young that do not belong to them or even their species. If an animal is capable of this, why wouldn't a human be? I'm sure there are similar stories about people too.

Answer 6

There are two instincts that drive us - self preservation and preservation of the species. All that you have described fall into one of these. Based on these instincts, we define morals. It is when we focus too much on ourselves to the detriment of the whole that we become immoral.

There is always some benefit to actions, making it impossible to do something with no benefit (or at least without believing there will be a benefit).

Answer 7

I feel sorry for those who actually are atheist because those people have definitely confused the tools with the User, the tools being evolution, the so-called big bang, planetary accretion, and all the rest of science. Science only tells us _how_ something happens and never _who_ instituted the act. Science is blind to everything but physical objects whether those objects be individual sub-atomic particles or stars found in space. There are those who claim atheism but who really are not atheist. A true atheist does not _care_ if someone believes in "a god" since the true atheist "knows" that there are none. That is why, IMO, the so-called atheists that we find trolling here on Answers are not true atheists, they probably are just those who want to discuss, argue, and "cuss at" religion in general.

Answer 8

Yeah, pretty much. We do sometimes do things to aid others that are to our own detriment, but we feel good about doing it, and in most cases gain the gratitude of the person we helped. It's a great system, where people feel good about making other people feel good.
I don't know if it's really selfish per se, since it does involve consideration of the other person's interests as well. But I doubt I'd help someone if I knew I'd feel bad about doing it.

Answer 9

That's a very good question.

There are seemingly completely altruistic behaviors in human society as well as in nature. Ultimately, from an evolutionary standpoint, these can be explained as indirectly selfish ways of propagating closely related genes, or even cultural memes.

Answer 10

My natural animal instinct is a fight or flight one, about being selfish, animals that are territorial are selfish but animals in general arent. Does that make sense?

For charity, people who were homeless before or those that know what its like on a subconcious level are more likely to give because they know what they are going through, not so much guilt but sympathy, for a christian it may be thier guilt kicking in.