Altruism firmly maintains positive connotations in the minds of most. The notion of putting the interests, well-being, and happiness of others above one’s self-interest, well-being, and happiness — no more than that, the notion of sacrificing one’s interests, well-being, and happiness to benefit others with no expectation of any reciprocity, benefit, or compensation for oneself — continues to be regarded as an extremely high moral/ethical value.
Within this framework, altruism — the persistent act of putting the welfare of others above oneself — becomes a moral obligation. Auguste Comte, who coined the term, certainly believed that. He rejected rights — divine or otherwise — as absurd and immoral and instead trumpeted duties and obligations based on functions, for all and toward all. In Comte’s thinking, human beings are morally obligated to put everyone above themselves.
Again, this likely continues to strike most modern people as highly noble because they confuse altruism with loyalty or concern for the common good or because they delight in the personal gratification aspect of placing others above themselves — the intrinsic reward of the ego boost that privately or socially confirms their statuses as “good” and “caring” people.
Yet Comte’s altruism has nothing to do with loyalty or the common good as motivators. On the contrary, Comte’s “true” altruism disregards all concerns based on social relationships for the simple reason that such relationships taint and diminish the purity of the altruistic urge for all and toward all.
The nearly two centuries that have passed since Comte’s death have revealed true altruism as an absurd abstraction, at least at the societal level, which, for Comte, was the only level that existed or mattered.
What parades around as altruism today at the societal level is mostly poisonous egoism or mass psychological manipulations aimed at making people believe that they are placing themselves above others without having to go through the inconvenience of actually doing so. The altruism that contaminates most Christian altruism — an oxymoron par excellence — is of the same quality and does no better.
Put simply, all forms of social altruism today are grossly misguided, insincere, and fraudulent.
However, true altruism does appear to exist, but it exists in the very thing Comte denied as real — the spirit.
True altruism is the moral obligation of denying the Self for the benefit of the Other. It failed to materialize in Reality because the True Self or Primal Self rejects the moral obligation to deny itself for the sake of the Other outright on spiritual grounds.
Our True or Primal Selves understand that any meaning or purpose we hope to gain from mortal life depends entirely on relationships between and among Beings, that is, on relationships between True Selves, in as much as such relationships are possible in mortal life. Such relationships depend entirely on the recognition, nurturing, and actuation of one’s Primal Self and other Selves, which is the very life force of Creation.
The Primal Self feels no obligation toward and cannot form a relationship with an abstract Other because it is akin to trying to relate to a void, an utter vacuum. It also experiences no impetus to lose “itself” to such a void.
False selves, on the other hand, find it easier to relate to the void of the Other, primarily because it increases the egoisms within false selves. Comte’s true altruism is perpetually doomed to failure because it is predicated on a true and noble non-spiritual self that does not exist.
What exists instead is a plethora of false selves that are more than willing to utilize the altruistic impulse for aims that ultimately run contrary to Comte’s grand visions of a progressive, selfless society in which individuals feel authentically morally obligated to perform altruistic duties without any regard for relationships or reciprocity.
The fraudulence of all altruism lies in the fact that the sacrificing selves are all false. None of them sacrifice anything even remotely close to Comte’s idea of true altruism.
The only area where Comte’s true altruism appears to have achieved any modicum of success is at the level of the individual True Self and its relationships with other Beings. However, this is anything but a “positive” development (pun very much intended).
Here’s my thinking — on the one hand, altruism is detrimental to the True Self because it tends to activate and amplify false selves, thereby driving the True Self further from consciousness. On the other hand, altruism’s insistence that we place the Other above the Self forces us away from reality into abstraction.
The false selves that fan altruism may be false, but false is not the same as non-existent. Thus, most “effective” altruism boils to false selves insincerely placing other false selves above themselves. However, even our false selves abhor the abstract void that is the Other, but they tolerate it if it can provide egoistic benefits.
The only way an individual can establish and maintain contact with the Other is if they internalize the Other within themselves. Comte’s true altruism does not boil down to the matter of selves placing the Other above themselves — it exists in the non-relationship of Others, of one’s internalized abstract Other contacting an externalized abstract Other. Put another way, Comte’s true altruism is the non-relationships of non-existent entities.
The internal Other is not just another false self — it is the denial of all selves, especially the True Self. The same applies to external Other.
The Other within a person insists upon the same sacrifices the false selves demand when it comes to altruism — pleasure, time, life quality, money, survival, reproduction — but unlike the false selves, the Other will forgo all temptations toward compensation or reciprocity. On top of that, the Other within a person knows the sacrifice cannot and will not offer any real benefit to any other "Others".
The highest moral obligation today? A void sacrificing itself for a void.
The principle of concern for the nothing and non-existence of the Other and placing that above one’s own Other, one’s own nothing and non-existence, all for the benefit of nothing and non-existence.
Note: This post was stimulated by Dr. Charlton's recent series of posts on the potential for mass suicide.
Within this framework, altruism — the persistent act of putting the welfare of others above oneself — becomes a moral obligation. Auguste Comte, who coined the term, certainly believed that. He rejected rights — divine or otherwise — as absurd and immoral and instead trumpeted duties and obligations based on functions, for all and toward all. In Comte’s thinking, human beings are morally obligated to put everyone above themselves.
Again, this likely continues to strike most modern people as highly noble because they confuse altruism with loyalty or concern for the common good or because they delight in the personal gratification aspect of placing others above themselves — the intrinsic reward of the ego boost that privately or socially confirms their statuses as “good” and “caring” people.
Yet Comte’s altruism has nothing to do with loyalty or the common good as motivators. On the contrary, Comte’s “true” altruism disregards all concerns based on social relationships for the simple reason that such relationships taint and diminish the purity of the altruistic urge for all and toward all.
The nearly two centuries that have passed since Comte’s death have revealed true altruism as an absurd abstraction, at least at the societal level, which, for Comte, was the only level that existed or mattered.
What parades around as altruism today at the societal level is mostly poisonous egoism or mass psychological manipulations aimed at making people believe that they are placing themselves above others without having to go through the inconvenience of actually doing so. The altruism that contaminates most Christian altruism — an oxymoron par excellence — is of the same quality and does no better.
Put simply, all forms of social altruism today are grossly misguided, insincere, and fraudulent.
However, true altruism does appear to exist, but it exists in the very thing Comte denied as real — the spirit.
True altruism is the moral obligation of denying the Self for the benefit of the Other. It failed to materialize in Reality because the True Self or Primal Self rejects the moral obligation to deny itself for the sake of the Other outright on spiritual grounds.
Our True or Primal Selves understand that any meaning or purpose we hope to gain from mortal life depends entirely on relationships between and among Beings, that is, on relationships between True Selves, in as much as such relationships are possible in mortal life. Such relationships depend entirely on the recognition, nurturing, and actuation of one’s Primal Self and other Selves, which is the very life force of Creation.
The Primal Self feels no obligation toward and cannot form a relationship with an abstract Other because it is akin to trying to relate to a void, an utter vacuum. It also experiences no impetus to lose “itself” to such a void.
False selves, on the other hand, find it easier to relate to the void of the Other, primarily because it increases the egoisms within false selves. Comte’s true altruism is perpetually doomed to failure because it is predicated on a true and noble non-spiritual self that does not exist.
What exists instead is a plethora of false selves that are more than willing to utilize the altruistic impulse for aims that ultimately run contrary to Comte’s grand visions of a progressive, selfless society in which individuals feel authentically morally obligated to perform altruistic duties without any regard for relationships or reciprocity.
The fraudulence of all altruism lies in the fact that the sacrificing selves are all false. None of them sacrifice anything even remotely close to Comte’s idea of true altruism.
The only area where Comte’s true altruism appears to have achieved any modicum of success is at the level of the individual True Self and its relationships with other Beings. However, this is anything but a “positive” development (pun very much intended).
Here’s my thinking — on the one hand, altruism is detrimental to the True Self because it tends to activate and amplify false selves, thereby driving the True Self further from consciousness. On the other hand, altruism’s insistence that we place the Other above the Self forces us away from reality into abstraction.
The false selves that fan altruism may be false, but false is not the same as non-existent. Thus, most “effective” altruism boils to false selves insincerely placing other false selves above themselves. However, even our false selves abhor the abstract void that is the Other, but they tolerate it if it can provide egoistic benefits.
The only way an individual can establish and maintain contact with the Other is if they internalize the Other within themselves. Comte’s true altruism does not boil down to the matter of selves placing the Other above themselves — it exists in the non-relationship of Others, of one’s internalized abstract Other contacting an externalized abstract Other. Put another way, Comte’s true altruism is the non-relationships of non-existent entities.
The internal Other is not just another false self — it is the denial of all selves, especially the True Self. The same applies to external Other.
The Other within a person insists upon the same sacrifices the false selves demand when it comes to altruism — pleasure, time, life quality, money, survival, reproduction — but unlike the false selves, the Other will forgo all temptations toward compensation or reciprocity. On top of that, the Other within a person knows the sacrifice cannot and will not offer any real benefit to any other "Others".
The highest moral obligation today? A void sacrificing itself for a void.
The principle of concern for the nothing and non-existence of the Other and placing that above one’s own Other, one’s own nothing and non-existence, all for the benefit of nothing and non-existence.
Note: This post was stimulated by Dr. Charlton's recent series of posts on the potential for mass suicide.
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