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You've done your own nailing it.
This down to the bone definition is also on Wikipedia under "altruism",
"Pure altruism consists of sacrificing something for someone other than the self (e.g. sacrificing time, energy or possessions) with no expectation of any compensation or benefits, either direct, or indirect (e.g., receiving recognition for the act of giving)."
AR considered this type of negative trade evil.
"What is the moral code of altruism? The basic principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue and value.
"Do not confuse altruism with kindness, good will or respect for the rights of others. These are not primaries, but consequences, which, in fact, altruism makes impossible. The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute, is self-sacrifice—which means; self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction—which means: the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good.
"Do not hide behind such superficialities as whether you should or should not give a dime to a beggar. That is not the issue. The issue is whether you do or do not have the right to exist without giving him that dime. The issue is whether you must keep buying your life, dime by dime, from any beggar who might choose to approach you. The issue is whether the need of others is the first mortgage on your life and the moral purpose of your existence. The issue is whether man is to be regarded as a sacrificial animal. Any man of self-esteem will answer: 'No.' Altruism says: 'Yes.'”
from “Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World,” in the anthology Philosophy: Who Needs It
and
"There are two moral questions which altruism lumps together into one 'package-deal': (1) What are values? (2) Who should be the beneficiary of values? Altruism substitutes the second for the first; it evades the task of defining a code of moral values, thus leaving man, in fact, without moral guidance."
"Altruism declares that any action taken for the benefit of others is good, and any action taken for one’s own benefit is evil. Thus the beneficiary of an action is the only criterion of moral value—and so long as that beneficiary is anybody other than oneself, anything goes."
from “Introduction”, The Virtue of Selfishness
There are more excerpts at http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/altrui...
"The Virtue of Selfishness is a collection of essays presenting Ayn Rand’s radical moral code of rational selfishness and its opposition to the prevailing morality of altruism—i.e., to the duty to sacrifice for the sake of others."
And noting that Comte explicitly sought to wipe causality out of philosophy, it is important to understand Ayn Rand's explanation of the role of causality and rejection of duty in ethics: “Causality Versus Duty,” in her anthology Philosophy: Who Needs It. http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/duty.h...
"Positivism alone holds at once both a noble and true language when it urges us to live for others. This, the definitive formula of human morality, gives a direct sanction exclusively to our instincts of benevolence, the common source of happiness and duty. Implicitly and indirectly it sanctions our personal instincts, as the necessary conditions of our existence, with the proviso that they must be subordinate to those of altruism. With this limitation, we are even ordered to gratify our personal instincts, with the view of fitting ourselves to be better servants of Humanity, whose we are entirely." p313
"Positivism recognizes no right in anybody but the right to do his duty. To speak more accurately, our religion imposes on all the obligation to help every one to discharge his peculiar function. In politics we must eliminate Rights, as in philosophy we eliminate causes... All honest and sensible men, of whatever party, should agree, by a common consent, to eliminate the doctrin of rights. Positivism only recognizes duties, duties of all to all. Placing itself, as it does, at the social point of view, it cannot tolerate the notion of rights, for such notion rests on individualism. We are born under a load of obligations of every kind, to our predecessors, to our successors, to our contemporaries. After our birth these obligations increase or accumulate..." p331-2
from translation by R. Congreve, London: Kegan Paul, 1891
https://archive.org/details/catechismpos...
From Webster's Dictionary Unabridged, 2nd ed, 1979:
Altruism, n. [Fr. altuisme, from It. altrui, of or to others, from L. alter, another. A term first emplyed by the Positivists, or followers of the French philosopher Comte.] unselfish concern for the welfare of others: opposed to egoism.
From the Dictionary of Philosophy, Runes, ed, 1962 edition:
Altruism: (Alter: other) In general, the cult of benevolence; the opposite of egoism. Term coined by Comte and adopted in Britain by H. Spencer.
For Comte Altruism meant the discipline and eradiction of self-centered desire, and a life devoted to the good of others; more particularly, selfless love and evotion to Society. In brief, it involved the self-abnegating love of Catholic Christianity redirected towards Humanity conceived as an ideal unity. As thus understood, altruism involves a conscious oppostion not only to egoism (whether understood as excessive or moderate self-love), but also to the formal or theological pursuit of charity and to the atomic or individualistic social philosophy of 17th-18th century liberalism, of utilitarianism, and of French Ideology.
Tortured definition.
I don't see a requirement to perform an act anywhere in the common definitions of altruism. AR seems to include that as part of her definition. As I've said, if you include the requirement aspect, that seems more like slavery or bondage.
How would an individual's choice to practice altruism be slavery or bondage? It only becomes so when when some other person or group demands “social altruism” for "the greater good" or such.
AR defined altruism as a requirement to give oneself for others. That is slavery. If you choose to do so, I see that as charity. 'nuff said.
these many years ago, I took a speed
reading class. I go back over important stuff quite often. I've read all the novels, the polemics, and I have every newsletter, from Brandon to the time they were discontinued. Also, every biography by those who loved her and those who -- not so much. In addition I have met many of the "collective." Am I bragging? Yes. But still, I guess I'm as objective-ish as a person can be, knowledge-wise in any case.
I often sacrifice. Usually giving up some pleasure of today for another one in the future. I don't see anything wrong with sacrifice. Again, depends on why.
It's like the times I would keep my store open on a holiday so that I could use the extra money to send the boys to summer camp. It's actually a form of payment to yourself.
Cheers
And I thought slavery was abolished nearly 150 years ago. Silly me.
Blah, blah blah...roads and bridges...blah, blah...If you have earned it, you didn't build that, you don't own that, you didn't earn that. Somebody else did.
(not the exact quote but you get the idea)
(Psst! That "give it up" part does not only mean for a clueless libtard to clap his hands).
I currently have a post where I wrote "Neccesity" in the title. It's the ideas, mimi, the ideas...
Now, can we deal with the use of "no problem" as a response to "thank you"? I SO do not understand that one. In most cases - like the salesperson pointing out the way to the restrooms - frankly, I don't really care if it was a problem or not, and I usually don't want to know. but they reassure me anyway. ???
Most of those rules that make no sense for English were devised for Latin and make perfect sense there. We get our weird spelling because Norman knights wanted to make dates with Saxon barmaids.
A: Well, then, tell me what part of what you earn belongs to me.
or the less polite
B. So some of what you earn belongs to me - your wallet, please?
I like to make it personal.
I originally assumed that what you wrote is what Ayn Rand actually said about altruism.
I did a google search on what you said Ayn Rand used for the definition and got no matches at all.
I wouldn't use that as what Ayn Rand actually said but more likely as a form of what others have said Ayn Rand said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51pMod2Aa...
How she defines altruism isn't the dictionary definition. What she defines is bondage or slavery.
I watched the whole video and honestly did not hear AR say what you wrote, which is, altruism is “a requirement to give oneself for others.” She does say many other things about altruism.
The video does show a definition at the beginning,
"altruism: unselfish regard for the devotion to the welfare of others.”
But this seems to be one of many dictionary definitions and I could not match it with an AR quote.
If you really watched that video and couldn't see this come through clearly, then there's nothing more that I can do for you.