On Thu, Dec 12, 2002 at 09:12:15PM +0100, Meliton wrote: > "Egoism" is just a word, I use it a lot because it shocks some people > into not lying to themselves. Too few people. And I do believe that we > all act strictly according to our interests, though not as rational > beings (which we are NOT). Those interests may be (often are) hidden > from us, and we often act in ways that harm us (drugs...) or seem > altruistic (sharing your knowledge of Linux ;). But absolutely every act > of every human being in History, including all the moving ones of > self-sacrifice, are for the actor's benefit. I'm not being cynical here.
This is your opinion and that is fine, but please don't insult others by suggesting that they are living a lie and that you are a saviour that can reveal the truth to them. Imagine two soldiers who are ordered to carry out cruel and vicious acts (maybe they're Nazis). The penalty for failing to carry out an order is death. One soldier does his job without thinking, the other decides he cannot carry out the order. He knows that he will be put to death. I suppose you can argue that the second soldier is acting in his own self interest because he wants to die with a clean conscience, but I don't buy it. His self interest would always be to preserve his own life. How do you explain these supererogatory acts? I don't have a problem admitting that humans are selfish, but I don't subscribe to the absolutist nature of your supposition. And you won't be able to convince me otherwise, because this is a belief. Todd
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