2008 Woodie Awards
Letter to the Editor
Altruism and Its False Alternative
Sandersfeld, Scott
Issue date: 9/30/05 Section: Opinions & Editorials
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Last Thursday, Lawrence President Jill Beck gave her convocation, entitled "A Question of Values: Community Engagement, Altruism, and Liberal Education." It was poorly attended.
Normally I would lament such a thing, but I would like to think that maybe the students here at Lawrence are beginning to get a bit sick of speaker after speaker coming to give their assessment of the Bush administration, their endorsement of environmentalism (see the next convocation, "Mending the Earth") or, in the most recent case, their view on how best to give our lives to the poor and "underprivileged." Not to say that Lawrence students don't go to these convocations on principle, but rather that they might be sick of the annual "give up your time" fest (to Lawrence's credit, bringing champion of individual rights Salman Rushdie and physicist Lisa Randall is a step in the right direction).
In her speech, President Beck endorsed altruism and said that it should be the topic of discussion. I propose to start the discussion immediately.
Essential to the defense of altruism (literally "other-ism"), is disarming any questioning individuals of a seemingly rational defense. This is done by 1) appeal to authority and 2) the presentation of the false alternative.
In President Jill Beck's convocation last Thursday, she began by telling us that all world religions endorse altruism. Then she said that, despite the different cultures and ideas present in American society, we can all agree (according to a study) that altruism is moral.
This is the appeal to authority. Apparently everyone seems to accept these days that the religions of the world are unquestioned sources of wisdom, so it is no wonder that this line is used to appeal to people, religious and non-religious. This, coupled with some study that says nearly all people agree that altruism is the only path to moral perfection further assures a dissenting mind that he/she is definitely in the minority.
Of course, both of the things that President Beck says are true. All world religions do endorse altruism, and just about every secular philosophy does as well. Ask most anyone on the street and they'll tell you "Don't be selfish."
Normally I would lament such a thing, but I would like to think that maybe the students here at Lawrence are beginning to get a bit sick of speaker after speaker coming to give their assessment of the Bush administration, their endorsement of environmentalism (see the next convocation, "Mending the Earth") or, in the most recent case, their view on how best to give our lives to the poor and "underprivileged." Not to say that Lawrence students don't go to these convocations on principle, but rather that they might be sick of the annual "give up your time" fest (to Lawrence's credit, bringing champion of individual rights Salman Rushdie and physicist Lisa Randall is a step in the right direction).
In her speech, President Beck endorsed altruism and said that it should be the topic of discussion. I propose to start the discussion immediately.
Essential to the defense of altruism (literally "other-ism"), is disarming any questioning individuals of a seemingly rational defense. This is done by 1) appeal to authority and 2) the presentation of the false alternative.
In President Jill Beck's convocation last Thursday, she began by telling us that all world religions endorse altruism. Then she said that, despite the different cultures and ideas present in American society, we can all agree (according to a study) that altruism is moral.
This is the appeal to authority. Apparently everyone seems to accept these days that the religions of the world are unquestioned sources of wisdom, so it is no wonder that this line is used to appeal to people, religious and non-religious. This, coupled with some study that says nearly all people agree that altruism is the only path to moral perfection further assures a dissenting mind that he/she is definitely in the minority.
Of course, both of the things that President Beck says are true. All world religions do endorse altruism, and just about every secular philosophy does as well. Ask most anyone on the street and they'll tell you "Don't be selfish."