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Altruism Is Important in Society

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Altruism Is Important in Society
Knowing and Knowledge 1 ACX1001

Semester 1 2009

Longer Essay:

Why is kindness or altruism important for society?

Roselyn Weereratne

Student: 3801157

Tutor: Joyce

Tute: 17:30 Monday

Why is kindness or altruism important for society?

Altruism may be defined as a basic selfless attitude that may attribute to those providing initial intervention (Ronel, 2006).

For a society or community to thrive, prosper and grow minimum expectations must exist for the individuals of that community to be happy. Rules and laws are in place to govern the ways in which we should act socially, ethically and morally. Among such principles is an expectation to be fair and kind to those around oneself, as you yourself would like to be treated. Therefore kindness is a key factor that is important and does affect society.

Societies, communities, countries and people have expanded and grown through many stages of time. From the barbaric ages to the modern industrial and technological ages, but it has not been without the expenses of others. 3rd world countries for example have suffered as the industrialized countries grew. The industrialized peoples benefited from structured legal systems, which resulted in minimum expectations of the people to be polite and kind in society in order to remain apart of the society, even today. In 3rd world countries individuals use self-preservation to survive because there is no structured government or society to provide kindness through means of housing, food or health care.

We are all people, no matter what class, culture or background and as explained by Peter Singer in ‘The life you can save – Acting now to end world poverty’, there are far greater moral rewards in giving more of ourselves than a bare minimal. The example used here is that Warren Buffet contributed $31 Billion dollars in donations. As enormous as the amount is, as the wealthiest man alive, he could afford far more. His personal wealth is worth 3 times



Bibliography: Boehm, Christopher. Purposive Social Selection and the Evolution of Human Altruism Cross-Cultural Research, November 2008; 42: 319 - 352. Corbett, Julia B. “Altruism, Self-Interest, and the Reasonable Person Model of Environmentally Responsible Behavior” DOI: 10.1177/1075547005275425 Science Communication 2005; 26; 368 Clough, Paul. "The Relevance of Kinship to Moral Reasoning in Culture and in the Philosophy of Ethics." Social Analysis 51, no. 1 (Spring2007 2007): 135-155. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 21, 2009). Desmond , Adrian (2009) ‘Amazing Grace’ The Australian Finance Review 6/2/2009 Natti Ronel, Debbie Haski-Leventhal, Boaz M. Ben-David and Alan S. York ‘Perceived Altruism: A Neglected Factor in Initial Intervention’ Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol 2009; 53; 191 originally published online Jan 15, 2008; (accessed May 21, 2009). Ronel, N. (2006). “When good overcomes bad: The impact of volunteers on those they help - Human Relations”, 59(8), 1133-1153. Rubin, Paul H. "Public goods and the evolution of altruism." Politics & the Life Sciences 26, no. 2 (September 2007): 26-32. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 22, 2009). Salter, Frank. "Westermarck 's altruism." Politics & the Life Sciences 27, no. 2 (September 2008): 28-46. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 23, 2009). Relations, 59(8), 1133-1153.

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