[GBA]

In high school, a teacher for one of my classes told us that there is no such thing as "altruism", that every altruistic act is selfish, as the doer gets something for it.

Other than Jesus, probably Mary and perhaps some selfless acts of bravery and courage, I've never been able to find an exception to his statement.

There is a reward for the altruism, he said, and that means it's not altruistic, but comes from a self centered motivation instead, however noble or saintly the act or motivation may be.

[TBP]

In high school, a teacher for one of my classes told us that there is no such thing as "altruism", that every altruistic act is selfish, as the doer gets something for it.

There's a lot of truth to that, and I've read Ayn Rand making the same point.

Everything has a payoff for us. Everything, good or bad, gives us something we want. Otherwise, it wouldn't be in our lives.

Even if the reward is only the feeling we get, it still pays us too.

[TexasFreeper2009]

the whole book of Job addresses the issue.

[sunrise_sunset]

Pretty moronic statement on his part, it just twists the definition of what altruism is and makes words meaningless.

Common experience tells us there is a big difference between a person who acts altruistically and one who acts selfishly, regardless of how it makes them feel.

I mean, even a moron should be able to tell the difference between an act that makes two people feel good, versus an act that makes only one person feel good. Even the notion of ‘feeling good’ is so simplistic and juvenile, it does not capture the range of human emotion and motivation.

[Cvengr]

Au Contra-ire.

Just because God has a predestined reward in heaven doesn’t mean we are performing a good work to make God a debtor.

There do exist people who are performing good works to gain favor as a debt, but they will lose what they have.

Charity implies one anticipates nothing in return for their gift.