PSYCH 3BA3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Egotism, Giacomo Rizzolatti, Gratefulness
25 Aug 2016
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Chapter 11 empathy and egotism: portals to altruism, gratitude and forgiveness. Behaviour that is aimed at benefiting another person. Can be motivated by personal egotism or can be prompted by pure" empathic desire to benefit another person, irrespective of personal gain. The motive to pursue some sort of personal gain or benefit through targeted behaviour. One of the most influential of all human motives. Western thinkers have weighed in on the debate as to whether egotism, the sense of empathy, or both, fuel altruistic human actions. Since the renaissance, a prevailing view has been that altruism is best explained by the motive of egotism. The essence of this position is that we care for other people because it benefits us to do so. No matter how noble the altruism may appear, those in egotism-altruism camp believe that all altruistic actions produce an underlying benefit to the person who is doing the good deed i help because it benefits me .
