Compare and Contrast two Theories – Egoism versus Altruism
EGOISM (Two readings at Week 5 AND the 2 paragraphs of Glaucon’s
speech)… Summarize readings, spotlight and evaluate argument of Glaucon.
Spotlight a couple of RAND’s key attacks on / quotes about Altruism or her
thoughts on love and friendship? Her basic claim about Emergencies? Can you
agree or question with support or counter-examples?
ALTRUISM (Two readings Week 6 and one Video). Explain relevant key
terms; Biologist deWaal’s breakdown of Altruism; what you learned about
monkeys or humans; Possibly a quick account of Emotional Contagion and
original example? Ultimately do you find either theory more convincing about
human behavior? Optional: add detail from Additional Week 6 reading breaking
down Empathy, Sympathy, Compassion…
-Part of the sources below – (Suppose now that there were two such magic rings, and the just put on one
of them and the unjust the other. No man can be imagined to be of such
an iron nature that he would stand fast in justice. No man would keep his
hands off what was not his own when he could safely take what he liked
out of the market, or go into houses and lie with any one at his pleasure,
or kill or release from prison whom he would, and in all respects be like a
God among men.
Then the actions of the just would be as the actions of the unjust; they
would both come at last to the same point. And this we may truly affirm
to be a great proof that a man is just, not willingly or because he thinks
that justice is any good to him individually, but of necessity, for wherever
any one thinks that he can safely be unjust, there he is unjust. For all men
believe in their hearts that injustice is far more profitable to the individual
than justice, and he who argues as I have been supposing, will say that they
are right. If you could imagine any one obtaining this power of becoming
invisible, and never doing any wrong or touching what was another’s, he
would be thought by the lookers-on to be a most wretched idiot, although
they would praise him to one another’s faces, and keep up appearances.)
