Altruism - English spelling

It is a position that considers the good (benefit) pursued by others as the duty and standard of rightness of action, and is opposed to ethical egoism and partially to utilitarianism. It is also called altruism. The Indo-European root of the word altruism is said to have been first used by Comte and became established. In theory, altruism can take the form of deontology, but in reality it is a form of teleology. It is often advocated and recommended in religious rules, but unlike egoism, it is difficult to find its pure form of doctrine. The British School of Moral Sense, utilitarianism, and many other positions include altruism in part, but since the selfish tendency of humans cannot be denied in reality, extreme altruism becomes arbitrary. Furthermore, if each person does not think about himself at all and only thinks about others, he will neglect his efforts to improve himself and will show compassion to others, which will actually cause trouble, so it is difficult to make it a universal maxim.

[Takahide Toshita]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

他人が追求する善（利益）を行動の義務、正しさの基準と考える立場で、倫理的利己主義（エゴイズム）、そして部分的には功利主義と対立する。愛他主義ともいう。インド・ヨーロッパ語の語源altruismはコントが使い始めて定着したといわれる。利他主義は理論上、義務論の形もとりうるが、実際には目的論の一形態となる。宗教上の掟(おきて)にその主張がみられ、推奨されることが多いが、利己主義と違って、その純粋な学説形態は発見しにくい。イギリス道徳感覚学派、功利主義、その他の多くの立場は部分的に利他主義を含むが、事実上の人間の利己的傾向は否定できないから、極端な利他主義は独断となる。さらに、各人が自分のことをまったく考えず、他人のためばかりを考えれば、自己完成の努力を怠り、また他人に深情けをかけることになって、かえって迷惑を及ぼすことにもなるから、規範的にも普遍的格率とはなりにくい。

［杖下隆英］

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