Simply having the knowledge of what moral behaviour is does not offer enough motivation for people to act this way. Why act morally? What is the point to acting morally when one can simply not? Thomas Hobbes is a supporter of psychological egoism and says that human beings act morally because we are selfish, and morally correct behaviour is anything that helps one survive. On the other hand, Joseph Butler is a supporter of psychological altruism and states that while people may be capable of selfish behaviour, we are born with the desire to act in an altruistic manner toward others. Human beings are not born with an innate desire to kindly interact with others but once we’ve learned why we must be neighbourly to one another, we readily accept this. Joseph Butler’s theory of psychological altruism being the motivation for humans to behave morally is the more accurate definition.
An action needs to be a lot more than something that helps a person to survive in order to be morally correct, but Thomas Hobbes believes that no one is under any obligation to help another person if he does not benefit from it. Selfishness and selfish actions are human nature but they are not a part of our morality. From a young age, children are taught not to be selfish so that when they grow into adults, together they can create a peaceful society. God’s law tells us to love our neighbours as ourselves. This means that we are obligated to treat people well even if we do not benefit from it. However, Hobbes says that there is no common standard of morality and everything that a person does for himself is moral because he is acting according to his nature. He even goes as far as to say “if a person makes you feel safe, you will accept that person’s presence, if a person seems dangerous, you are justified in attacking the person”. According to Hobbes’ criterion, attacking a person who makes you feel unsafe is a morally good thing to do. It is immoral to attack someone because they seem dangerous to us. God’s law also tells us not to harm other people. Hobbes did not seem to think that he could appear to be dangerous to any other person who is then justified in attacking him. Hobbes says that there is such a thing as justice and anything that a person does to help his or herself is justified. He disregards God’s law stating that all justice belongs to God. Hobbes gives human beings too much responsibility and credit. Human beings are by nature selfish beings and that is why we have a law created by a higher power that we are to follow. Hobbes says that in order to prevent chaos, we are to allow a ruler to govern societies. Again, Kings, governors, prime ministers, and presidents are still human beings and are by nature, selfish. Once they are taught how not to be selfish by God’s law, they are then able to rule a country and create laws for the general public to follow. Therefore, an action is not considered morally good if it is driven solely by selfish purpose.
Joseph Butler’s view on altruism suggests that while people capable of selfish behaviour, we are born with a desire to help and care for others. Once we are taught how to be virtuous moral people, we then are able to look beyond our selfish short-term physical desires and pursue morality. This ability comes from our innate ability to reason. Reason is our first defence against our short-term physical desires however it can be compromised since we are only human. Our conscience is the stronger force that can help us be moral, virtuous people even when we ignore reason. Selfishness is a physical desire that is definitely part of us but conscience and reason are both stronger parts of our being that draw us to living virtuously and acceptably with other people. While selfishness is in our nature, our conscience is the built in reminder that we have an obligation to follow a law. No matter how strong the desire to only fulfill the needs and wants of ourselves without regard for other people is, it does not make it morally acceptable. However, just because we have to learn how to interact with others, it does not mean that it is not part of our nature; we were still made for society. Our conscience reminds us that we are to care and love our society as much as we love and care for ourselves.
As a way that I relate personally to this topic, I think about compassion. I also think about sympathy, kindness, forgiveness, and empathy. These things are what connect us to other people; they connect us to society. Once we learn about compassion, we are able to develop a deeper understanding about it. I always think about two quotes when I want to relate to other people instead of being self-centered. The first quote is by Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird said by Atticus Finch, and it is “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. This helps me sympathize with someone, anyone. I think about what it must feel like to be that person, to look at the world from their point of view and from their situation. It really makes me feel so much compassion for that person because it makes them seem so much more real to me. When I am having a conversation with someone, maybe even an argument, it is easy to want to force my argument upon the other person. But once I mentally climb into their skin and try to look at the conversation from their eyes, the world turns around and my words are landing now on me, I am then able to have more grace and understanding for the other person. The other quote that I like to consider is by Tom Hiddleston, a British theater and film actor; he says “within all of us is the capacity to be anyone or anything, and that’s the place where compassion comes from; that understanding that: ‘I could be like that if the circumstances had been different’”. It is of course not a famous quote, but it is a bit of truth that enlightens me so I consider the sentence to be words of wisdom. I really do believe that all people deserve to be understood and forgiven because we all start out the same. It’s our circumstances that make us into who we are. Because we are all not that different, we identify with one another and we feel good when we do. There’s a part of everyone that longs for human interaction; not just human interaction but mutual understanding, compassion, forgiveness, sympathy, and empathy. Maybe it’s because I’m young and I think I’ve got everything figured out which basically means that I have absolutely nothing figured out; but I think that ultimately, people are willing to let go of their selfishness in order to be a part of society because all individuals long to be a part of something, and to be cared for.
Therefore, everyone is born with their selfish nature as the dominant part of their sociality. From there we learn through experiences and through lessons that we are meant to care for others. Thomas Hobbes said that anything a person does to help him or her survive is morally good because it is a part of his or her nature. What he didn’t consider was that reason is a more important part of human nature and conscience is the ultimate power of it. Reason and conscience are what motivates us to do what is right despite our physical hunger for selfish and short-term desires. Joseph Butler explained that human beings were made for society and long to care for it as much as we care for ourselves. I agree with him. Human beings are unable to function properly in solitude and because of our conscience reminding us of compassion, forgiveness, sympathy, and empathy; it is natural for us to want to care for other human beings because we relate to them. Our innate conscience and reason also tells us what is morally good and what is immoral. Even when we ignore reason, our conscience can either tell us when not to do something or even not to do it again.
An action needs to be a lot more than something that helps a person to survive in order to be morally correct, but Thomas Hobbes believes that no one is under any obligation to help another person if he does not benefit from it. Selfishness and selfish actions are human nature but they are not a part of our morality. From a young age, children are taught not to be selfish so that when they grow into adults, together they can create a peaceful society. God’s law tells us to love our neighbours as ourselves. This means that we are obligated to treat people well even if we do not benefit from it. However, Hobbes says that there is no common standard of morality and everything that a person does for himself is moral because he is acting according to his nature. He even goes as far as to say “if a person makes you feel safe, you will accept that person’s presence, if a person seems dangerous, you are justified in attacking the person”. According to Hobbes’ criterion, attacking a person who makes you feel unsafe is a morally good thing to do. It is immoral to attack someone because they seem dangerous to us. God’s law also tells us not to harm other people. Hobbes did not seem to think that he could appear to be dangerous to any other person who is then justified in attacking him. Hobbes says that there is such a thing as justice and anything that a person does to help his or herself is justified. He disregards God’s law stating that all justice belongs to God. Hobbes gives human beings too much responsibility and credit. Human beings are by nature selfish beings and that is why we have a law created by a higher power that we are to follow. Hobbes says that in order to prevent chaos, we are to allow a ruler to govern societies. Again, Kings, governors, prime ministers, and presidents are still human beings and are by nature, selfish. Once they are taught how not to be selfish by God’s law, they are then able to rule a country and create laws for the general public to follow. Therefore, an action is not considered morally good if it is driven solely by selfish purpose.
Joseph Butler’s view on altruism suggests that while people capable of selfish behaviour, we are born with a desire to help and care for others. Once we are taught how to be virtuous moral people, we then are able to look beyond our selfish short-term physical desires and pursue morality. This ability comes from our innate ability to reason. Reason is our first defence against our short-term physical desires however it can be compromised since we are only human. Our conscience is the stronger force that can help us be moral, virtuous people even when we ignore reason. Selfishness is a physical desire that is definitely part of us but conscience and reason are both stronger parts of our being that draw us to living virtuously and acceptably with other people. While selfishness is in our nature, our conscience is the built in reminder that we have an obligation to follow a law. No matter how strong the desire to only fulfill the needs and wants of ourselves without regard for other people is, it does not make it morally acceptable. However, just because we have to learn how to interact with others, it does not mean that it is not part of our nature; we were still made for society. Our conscience reminds us that we are to care and love our society as much as we love and care for ourselves.
As a way that I relate personally to this topic, I think about compassion. I also think about sympathy, kindness, forgiveness, and empathy. These things are what connect us to other people; they connect us to society. Once we learn about compassion, we are able to develop a deeper understanding about it. I always think about two quotes when I want to relate to other people instead of being self-centered. The first quote is by Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird said by Atticus Finch, and it is “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. This helps me sympathize with someone, anyone. I think about what it must feel like to be that person, to look at the world from their point of view and from their situation. It really makes me feel so much compassion for that person because it makes them seem so much more real to me. When I am having a conversation with someone, maybe even an argument, it is easy to want to force my argument upon the other person. But once I mentally climb into their skin and try to look at the conversation from their eyes, the world turns around and my words are landing now on me, I am then able to have more grace and understanding for the other person. The other quote that I like to consider is by Tom Hiddleston, a British theater and film actor; he says “within all of us is the capacity to be anyone or anything, and that’s the place where compassion comes from; that understanding that: ‘I could be like that if the circumstances had been different’”. It is of course not a famous quote, but it is a bit of truth that enlightens me so I consider the sentence to be words of wisdom. I really do believe that all people deserve to be understood and forgiven because we all start out the same. It’s our circumstances that make us into who we are. Because we are all not that different, we identify with one another and we feel good when we do. There’s a part of everyone that longs for human interaction; not just human interaction but mutual understanding, compassion, forgiveness, sympathy, and empathy. Maybe it’s because I’m young and I think I’ve got everything figured out which basically means that I have absolutely nothing figured out; but I think that ultimately, people are willing to let go of their selfishness in order to be a part of society because all individuals long to be a part of something, and to be cared for.
Therefore, everyone is born with their selfish nature as the dominant part of their sociality. From there we learn through experiences and through lessons that we are meant to care for others. Thomas Hobbes said that anything a person does to help him or her survive is morally good because it is a part of his or her nature. What he didn’t consider was that reason is a more important part of human nature and conscience is the ultimate power of it. Reason and conscience are what motivates us to do what is right despite our physical hunger for selfish and short-term desires. Joseph Butler explained that human beings were made for society and long to care for it as much as we care for ourselves. I agree with him. Human beings are unable to function properly in solitude and because of our conscience reminding us of compassion, forgiveness, sympathy, and empathy; it is natural for us to want to care for other human beings because we relate to them. Our innate conscience and reason also tells us what is morally good and what is immoral. Even when we ignore reason, our conscience can either tell us when not to do something or even not to do it again.