can there ever be such a thing as a truly selfless act?

Question

do all actions have a selfish motivation in some way? E.g., giving money to charity is actually selfish because it makes you happy and enables you to contribute to society thus relinquishing guilt. Or saving someone elses life knowing you will die as a result (pushing them out of the way of a bus) is selfish because you would not be able to live with yourself if they died. If you can think of a truly selfless act, please give an example as this has been driving me wild. Surely there has to be one - restore my faith in humanity!!

1oui5e, yes but there would still be an element of selfishness too as you would be doing it to make yourself not feel remorse. It's an interesting question that got put to me at uni, 6 years ago where i was told there is an element of selfishness in every act even if there are other more obvious reasons initially for doing an act there will always be selfishness in it somewhere too. human nature I guess.

leelee: no you still get personal pleasure from experiencing parenthood although i grant you it is bloody hard work!

marie: no coz they still wouldn't be able to live with themselves if they didn't and wouldn't know they'd die as a result of helping

shadowrench: no coz slaves work coz they have no choice as they are saving stopping themselves from being beaten : self preservation!

i'm not suggesting all acts are completely selfish, what i'm saying is that there will always be an element of personal gain thus the act cannot be completely selfless!

army wife: you are called army wife so you obviously love it! i think they do an amazing job which they are paid to do, how many bedrooms does your army house have? I do think you and your husband are brave but you are still not doing it completely selflessly as he must enjoy his job at least a little?! its the same for nurses, doctors, firemen, police etc. I work with high risk clients and have been threatened with a knife, and I don't think I do my job completely selflessly, but then I acknowledge I get paid to do my job!

jason and Veronica Alicia: Spot on!!!! Point well made

Answer 1

Giving your life for someone elses isn't neccessarily selfish. If my child was goiing to be run over I would sacrifice myself because I value their life over my own, not for the reasons you say. Interesting question though.

I disagree with your argument. It would not enter my head that I may feel remorse for not sacrificing myself for them, it would be a natural instinct. I don't know if you have kids, but anyone who does will understand what I mean. This might not apply to anyone I wished to save, for instance if it was someone elses child I may rationalise, and yes my own remorse would probably do it, but my own children, selfless, no question.

It is not about whether an act gives you self gratification or happiness after, it is about whether the PREDETERMINED reason for doing it is your own happiness, and I have to argue that this is not always the case.

Answer 2

You're right in looking at the "why". Why did I give the money? Why did I help that old lady. But I think you might be doing it in the wrong order. If see an old lady struggling to cross a busy street and your thought is "I'm going to help her so I feel good" then that is not a selfless act. But if you help her because if her dilema, then that it a selfless act. You don't know if you feel good afterward. I once went into a restaraunt, by myself for dinner. A mom walked in with four children to celebrate a birthday for one of the boys (these were all children under 10). They were all excited and having a great time. I'm not saying that they didn't have alot of money but they were not dressed in expensive clothes and the mother ordered very little for herself. I left before they did and I paid for their meal. I didn't do it to feel good, I did it because that mother would have a little cash that she didn't think she would. I made sure the waitress didn't tell them their meal was paid for until I was gone and I actually felt a little embarassed when the waitress started telling be what a good thing I'd done. I didn't do it for my own self-gratification.

Answer 3

Saving someones life knowing you'll die as a result, IS a selfless act! In situations like you've described, they occur without a moment's notice.

Surely, you are not suggesting that in a split second, you'd actually have time to reflect on the consequences, the pros & cons of your decision? That you'd stand there thinking, "oh gee, I just couldn't live with the guilt if I choose to live & stand here & watch my son die instead. Wow, I guess I should be a martyr & save his life. There's lots of witness, I might even end up famous!"

Yea right!!!

It is a reflex action, devoid of conscious thought, of a loving person, who selflessly puts the well-being of someone else before their own.

Answer 4

A selfless act is one where the individual doing the act does not expect any return. Anonymity. A man sees a building on fire. Two stories up is a mother with a child. He runs in and lowers both to the ground. When he comes out he smiles because he knows in his heart he did something good but he blends in with the crowd and fades away. The next several days people are looking all over for the "hero". Does he call anyone? No.. he just smiles to himself knowing that child was given the opportunity to grow and possibly change the world and a young mother would not live her life in agony.

Answer 5

This is a hard question to answer. I think there is. The examples you give largley come after the act The selflesnes comes when a reward is not expected or anticipated. The satisfaction is not gained during the acr in fact it may be given willingly but at a time when you would do something else if you could. ie collect for a charity when you would rather watch the match on tele.

Answer 6

Try it. Give to a charity without anyone knowing or seeing. How about one that you don't believe in. That way you won't feel like you're relinquishing any guilt (what are you feeling guilty for anyway). The trick is to expect nothing in return. Is feeling happy really selfish? How about if you were happy before you did the selfless act? Happy people are more giving.

Answer 7

I have an answer for you. There was a soldier in Iraq, a specialist (a lower rank). One day, out on patrol someone threw a grenade in the truck he was in. He gave his life for his fellow soldiers and laid on the grenade when it went off, saving everyone else in the vehicle.

You can't say that he did it so that he wouldn't have felt remorse if they died. If he wouldn't have done it, he would have died anyway, everyone in the vehicle would have died.

What runs through your head at a time like that? We all die? Or I die and they live? I think that's about all there was time for...in which case he chose their life over trying to save his own. A selfless act...

BTW he was put in for the Medal of Honor

Answer 8

there are many people out there who dive in where angels fear to tread without a thought for their own safety - spur of the moment and save anothers life.
to say they are selfish is an insult to them - police and fire officers do not have to rush into danger putting themselves at risk and not all do. those that do don't think about it. they come out first with a sense of relief that they are still alive
after that they wonder could they have done more - maybe saved more people and a feeling of guilt that they ran out of steam and couldn't do more .

later they may be able to feel good that they helped but that is not why the went in in the first place.
should you ever find yourself being saved by one of these people - at least try and feel a bit grateful and don't just assume they were doing their job - it isn't their job to risk their lives but they do it anyway.
if you call that selfish then so be it

Answer 9

The singer Kirsty McColl died because she pushed her son out of the way of a jet ski..There was a jeweller who got shot because she stepped in front of a bullet heading for her daughter. You save your children without thought or reason.

People do charity work for all reaons, because they can do something useful for society, or to improve their own self-respect. When John Profumo got out of jail, he spent the rest of his life working in a homeless shelter. His own life was in ruins, and there were still people in a worse situation than him.

As for the medical profession, what is wrong in feeling proud of your acheivments when you see the joy someone's face when you have saved a loved one, or a patient presents the staff with a box of chocolates and Thank-you card? Doesn't that make up for the abuse they have to suffer? Any nurse or doctor who doesn't have a good cry sometimes when they lose someone is in the wrong job. The same goes for the police and fire service. The lifeboat is run purely on donations, we need more air ambulances, and if I had the money, I would buy one of each!

There are many causes out there crying for help, and people do it because they want to. It gives a sense of satisfaction of doing something right, and puts your own life into perspective. It's what people sitting on their backsides on benefits, or living like Paris Hilton should be doing!

Do you, by any chance enjoy the beauty of a country park? Who do you think is responsible for keeping it so well?

Answer 10

I think that all acts have some selfish motive, even if it is in some small respect.

You raise and protect your children so as to leave a legacy and because it a biological instinct. You take the bullet for somebody because you believe in their ideology.

Or perhaps you take the bullet because only you can choose to loose your life, morally, you can't choose to let them loose theirs. In that sense it would make you happy to fulfil your moral obligations.

The problem is due to a paradox. Performing a 'selfless' act generally makes people happy about themselves. This under your definition is a selfish motivation. However, this selfish instincts should not diminish the accomplishment of these mainly selfless acts. The intention is still there to be selfless, even if you are selfish.

Answer 11

Yes, slaves are selfless.

They don't want to do it, they would stop if given the chance, they get nothing positive out of the experience, and it is for the benefit of others.

Thus: Slavery is the ultimate form of selflessness. Well, only when involuntary.

Edit:
In slavery, beatings are very very common and very random, it's a tactic used to maintain fear complexes.

Although, if you count self-preservation as a selfless act then you will never find ANYTHING. Apart from the suicidal, it is the Human wiring to preserve oneself, that is a necesary instinct for the survival of a natural race!