Altruism

Information and definition:

"Only act on the maxim that you want at the same time to become a universal law." - Immanuel Kant

Altruism (from the Latin age = the other) refers to selfless behavior in which a performance is performed by using personal resources without requiring or expecting anything in return.

In principle, personal resources may be goods of any kind: time, money, effort, objects, favors or general help.

When does someone act altruistically? Conditions for altruism:

 Voluntary
 No intention to gain an advantage
 No expectation of a later consideration
 Recognizable benefit for the other
 Expenditure of effort

Altruism or cooperation?

Although the conditions for altruism are relatively easy to outline, the clear distinction between cooperation and altruism is very difficult. The whole can be discussed in the following examples:

1.) It's Christmas Eve. Peter goes through the city and sees a homeless person. At first he goes on apathetically, but he is troubled by remorse. He has no sympathy, but a guilty conscience. At Christmas 'you have to do something good'. Peter goes to the homeless again after shopping and gives him a euro.

2.) Peter is in school and has an apple like every day. When he sees that Marianne has forgotten her sandwich today, he offers her a piece of his apple. Although Peter is not aware of this, but secretly he hopes to get some of Marianne's snack bread in the near future.

In Example 1, Peter is acting kind-heartedly, but whether the 'reassurance of one's own conscience' is still altruistic, or rather originates from a selfish reason that somehow rescinds the altruistic act, is the central question. Seen objectively (and without knowing his thoughts) Peter acts altruistically, because he gives the homeless person something of value in general. From a subjective level, however, he acts only to calm his conscience. The thing itself, to do something good, moves into the background. Whether only the objective act is sufficient for altruistic behavior, or whether the subjective component is a compelling condition, is entirely dependent on the definition chosen for altruism.

The second example is an example of reciprocal altruism. Peter shares with Marianne because he secretly hopes to get something from her next time. In contrast to example 1, it can be stated more clearly that this is not altruism but a form of cooperation.

As you can see, in answering the question of whether or not someone is altruistic, one gets into philosophy very quickly. Someone can act altruistically, but basically his own purposes. A clear demarcation is usually difficult, partly because there are different definitions of altruism.

Possible reasons for altruism

 Sympathy
 Conscientiousness
 Morality and ethics
 Religion and values
 Conscience satisfaction
 Helper syndrome
 Pity

Altruism from the perspective of evolution

From the perspective of evolutionary theory, altruism does not seem particularly plausible. With altruistic behavior, one individual strengthens another's fitness while simultaneously weakening one's own. In the long term, the gene combinations for altruistic behavior of these animals would have to be eliminated from the gene pool, as they are less well-adapted for their social behavior.

A special example to understand the meaning behind altruism are state-forming insects. Bees, ants and termites have one thing in common: Only the queen passes her genes on to the next generation. All other female animals are responsible only for the care and the flow in the bee / ant or termite state. A propagation of the workers is also no longer possible for physiological reasons. The sexual organs have regressed in the course of evolution, because there was no need anymore. Although the workers themselves do not pass on their genes, but the queen related to them. And the queen's genes are of course very similar to those of her daughters. In this context, biologists also speak of the so-called relatives selection.

Summary

Altruism (opposite: egoism) denotes prosocial and disinterested behavior, from which no advantage arises. The actions are voluntary and use only the other.

In relation selection, individuals do not pass on their genes themselves, but increase the likelihood that genes will be passed on to their relatives.