Is donating to charity truly selfless?

Started by mendacium remedium, March 11, 2013, 02:34:20 PM

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stromboli

Quote from: "leo"Another post for me !

And yet only a fish......... :roll:

mendacium remedium

Quote from: "Mister Agenda"There is no such thing as a selfless act, nor should there be. Satisfaction, alleviation of guilt, pride, compassion, whatever the motivation is, if there are no material benefits, you're doing it for emotional benefits. What kind of moral inversion would it take for someone to truly give selflessly, not only with no thought of reward, but not even personal satisfaction or a fleeting warm fuzzy feeling or a sense of accomplishment in one more step of paying off your debt to society? If you give your life for someone else, it's because you value their life more than your own, or because you value being the kind of person to risk that more than you value being alive. I'm with Mr. Twain on this one.

It's no skin off my nose whether I would approve of the reasons you give, I'm just glad that you do.

Good over-all replies guys,

This post and those who posted along these lines particularly resonated with me. Any act you do had either a physical or emotional consequence, no matter how abstract, there is some benefit, whatever ' benefit ' even is.
"Let there be no compulsion in religion, for truth is clear from error" - Quran
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"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world\'s most influential persons may surprise some readers ... but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level."
? Michael H. Hart]

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leo

Quote from: "stromboli"
Quote from: "leo"Another post for me !

And yet only a fish......... :roll:
I will reach 10,000 posts very soon with the help of the Muslim dude .  :-D
Religion is Bullshit  . The winner of the last person to post wins thread .

NitzWalsh

Quote from: "mendacium remedium"
Quote from: "Mister Agenda"There is no such thing as a selfless act, nor should there be. Satisfaction, alleviation of guilt, pride, compassion, whatever the motivation is, if there are no material benefits, you're doing it for emotional benefits. What kind of moral inversion would it take for someone to truly give selflessly, not only with no thought of reward, but not even personal satisfaction or a fleeting warm fuzzy feeling or a sense of accomplishment in one more step of paying off your debt to society? If you give your life for someone else, it's because you value their life more than your own, or because you value being the kind of person to risk that more than you value being alive. I'm with Mr. Twain on this one.

It's no skin off my nose whether I would approve of the reasons you give, I'm just glad that you do.

Good over-all replies guys,

This post and those who posted along these lines particularly resonated with me. Any act you do had either a physical or emotional consequence, no matter how abstract, there is some benefit, whatever ' benefit ' even is.

So you are admitting that there are no selfless acts, even the acts of charity done in secret by muslims are selfish?
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
~ Arthur C. Clarke

Shiranu

We are social creatures and we are reward-actions creatures, I would be more surprised if we DIDN'T do good things for "selfish" reasons.

Though to me, selfish implies harming others (or putting yourself first) over getting a treat for doing something good, so I am not entirely sure I agree with that either.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

leo

Is flushing the toilet truly selfless ?
Religion is Bullshit  . The winner of the last person to post wins thread .

Jason78

Quote from: "leo"Is flushing the toilet truly selfless ?

Are we talking a quick courtesy flush here?  And how many people do you live with?

Have you recently had asparagus or a curry?
Winner of WitchSabrinas Best Advice Award 2012


We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real
tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. -Plato

NitzWalsh

Quote from: "Jason78"
Quote from: "leo"Is flushing the toilet truly selfless ?

Are we talking a quick courtesy flush here?  And how many people do you live with?

Have you recently had asparagus or a curry?

Your own shit never smells as bad as other peoples, so it might actually be selfless to flush. Especially in a public washroom.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
~ Arthur C. Clarke

Zacky

Is it selfish to do something rather to make yourself feel better?

If yes, would it be considered "selfish" if I give a few bucks to a panhandler on the street merely to relieve my own distress upon seeing his predicament?"

Plu

Rebooting this discussion, it seems mostly that we must ask: what is "selfless"?, before we answer the original question.

Depending on what we consider a "selfless act", can we determine whether donating to charity can be it. And it'll probably vary from person to person.

SGOS

Quote from: "Mister Agenda"There is no such thing as a selfless act, nor should there be. Satisfaction, alleviation of guilt, pride, compassion, whatever the motivation is, if there are no material benefits, you're doing it for emotional benefits.
+  Spot on.  There's payback in every act of charity, just as there's a payback in every act of miserly refusal to aid another person or group.  Only a computer program could disperse charitable donations without experiencing something.

AllPurposeAtheist

Does it even matter if it's selfless or not? If I donated a million to X, assuming I had a billion to squander and the media made a big deal of it it's still a million to X media or not. If I give a few cigarettes to some schmoe here at the VOA and the media ignores it it's still a few cigarettes.
Of course I never help out a stranger here unless the TV crews are here to note how generous I am helping some guy out with bus fare.. Fair is fair...right?
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

SGOS

I would like to donate a million dollars to a Hall of Fame that pays homage to people who donate selflessly to charity.  They would call it the SGOS Hall of Fame of Charitable Contributions.  It would have a Bronze statue of me in the Great Hall.  The hall would be acoustically designed to amplify the echoing murmurs of visitors as they talk about me and read the various plaques listing some of my most humanitarian contributions and recalling my life of charitable anonymity.  Hall of Fame guides would explain to visitors why I decided to create the edifice as a way of encouraging others to give selflessly of themselves.  It would serve as a beacon of  selfless charity and set a benchmark toward which others could strive.

WitchSabrina

Quote from: "SGOS"I would like to donate a million dollars to a Hall of Fame that pays homage to people who donate selflessly to charity.  They would call it the SGOS Hall of Fame of Charitable Contributions.  It would have a Bronze statue of me in the Great Hall.  The hall would be acoustically designed to amplify the echoing murmurs of visitors as they talk about me and read the various plaques listing some of my most humanitarian contributions and recalling my life of charitable anonymity.  Hall of Fame guides would explain to visitors why I decided to create the edifice as a way of encouraging others to give selflessly of themselves.  It would serve as a beacon of  selfless charity and set a benchmark toward which others could strive.


I'm so inspired..........where do I send the money?
 :rollin:
I am currently experiencing life at several WTFs per hour.

SGOS

Quote from: "WitchSabrina"
Quote from: "SGOS"I would like to donate a million dollars to a Hall of Fame that pays homage to people who donate selflessly to charity.  They would call it the SGOS Hall of Fame of Charitable Contributions.  It would have a Bronze statue of me in the Great Hall.  The hall would be acoustically designed to amplify the echoing murmurs of visitors as they talk about me and read the various plaques listing some of my most humanitarian contributions and recalling my life of charitable anonymity.  Hall of Fame guides would explain to visitors why I decided to create the edifice as a way of encouraging others to give selflessly of themselves.  It would serve as a beacon of  selfless charity and set a benchmark toward which others could strive.


I'm so inspired..........where do I send the money?
 :rollin:
Send it to me directly.  You'll have a special room devoted to your selfless act, where people can admire your bust, which will be centrally located on a pedestal with a commemorative plaque.