Is there such a thing as an action that I perform that does not benefit me in some way? Many people conclude that there is not. From this, it is a short leap to the idea that all “love” is ultimately egoistic, and therefore that no love is agape, which is love that is supposed to give without consideration of itself.
The idea that all of our actions benefit us in some way is partly right, but also misleading. Let’s take an extreme example. Say someone reads an article about the sex-slave trade, where young girls are kidnapped and forced to labor in the most disgusting ways possible. Perhaps he becomes angry about this injustice, and decides to give money to an organization that works to break up sex-slave trade rings. Initially, it seems that he has done an altruistic thing: after all, he has contributed in a small way to improve the lives of others. But the moral skeptic points out that he also “feels good” about giving that money. As such, that action is ultimately egoistic. This analysis can be made for any moral action I do – I always benefit in some way.
On these terms, I agree that there is no such thing as altruism. There is, however, more to the story. Let’s say that there are two friends who learn about the tragedy of the sex-slave trade at the same time. When the first friend hears this, he becomes angry because he perceives this to be an unjust state-of-affairs that should be set right, while the second friend is generally apathetic toward the plight of these girls. It seems that most would agree that the first friend responded more appropriately than the second one in a moral sense. That is to say, the first friend is morally attuned to something in a way that the second friend is not.
So the skeptic who insists (correctly) that there are no purely altruistic actions now has a bigger problem: why did the first friend become angry over someone else’s situation? So there may be no altruistic actions, but there may be such a thing as altruistic indignation, for it often happens that someone gets angry over the unjust treatment another. Why is this?
The wise, or those who insist that that agape love does not exist, must explain how altruistic indignation arises from strictly natural causes. After all, if we are purely selfish at base, as the scientists insist, then altruism should not be possible. In the next three weeks, I will look at (and argue against) three potential explanations by the atheist that what appears to be altruism is not altruism after all.
