Altruism | Selflessness, Morality & Compassion

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[{"p":1,"t":17855},{"p":1,"t":186011},{"p":1,"t":1162988},{"p":1,"t":1383350},{"p":3,"t":620682},{"p":1,"t":667287},{"p":4,"t":481700},{"p":1,"t":317986},{"p":1,"t":1053585},{"p":1,"t":1308693}], "sequence": 1, "topics": {} }); </script> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content " data-topic-id="17855"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/altruism-ethics">altruism</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2025-02-07T00:00:00CST" >Feb 7, 2025</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/altruism-ethics/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn btn-sm border-2 btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 module-spacing js-inline-ai-ask-button p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related Topics: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/ethics-philosophy" topicid="194023">ethics</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/effective-altruism" topicid="2248935">effective altruism</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/altruistic-behaviour" topicid="17859">altruistic behaviour</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>On the Web: </dt> <dd><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-023-02163-2" target="_blank">Nature - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - Possibility of conjunction between altruism and egoism</a> (Feb. 07, 2025)</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/altruism-ethics"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref126977"></span>altruism</strong>, in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">ethics</a>, a theory of conduct that regards the good of others as the end of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="moral" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral" data-type="MW">moral</a> action. The term (French <em>altruisme,</em> derived from Latin <em>alter,</em> “other”) was coined in the 19th century by <span id="ref126978"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Auguste-Comte" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Auguste Comte</a>, the founder of Positivism, and adopted generally as a convenient <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="antithesis" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antithesis" data-type="MW">antithesis</a> to egoism. As a theory of conduct, its adequacy depends on an interpretation of “the <span id="ref126979"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/good-and-evil" class="md-crosslink ">good</a>.” If the term is taken to mean pleasure and the absence of pain, most altruists have agreed that a moral agent has an obligation to further the pleasures and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="alleviate" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alleviate" data-type="MW">alleviate</a> the pains of other people. The same argument holds if happiness is taken as the end of life. But critics have asked, if no one has a moral obligation to procure his own happiness, why should anyone else have an obligation to procure happiness for him? Other conflicts have arisen between immediate pain and long-range good, especially when the good <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="envisioned" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/envisioned" data-type="MW">envisioned</a> by the doer does not coincide with the vision of the beneficiary.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Some British Utilitarians, such as <span id="ref126980"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herbert-Spencer" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Herbert Spencer</a> and Leslie <span id="ref126981"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leslie-Stephen" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Stephen</a>, attacked the distinction between self and others that is basic to both <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="altruism" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/altruism" data-type="MW">altruism</a> and egoism. Such Utilitarians viewed the end of moral activity as the welfare of society, the social organism.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature font-12">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Brian-Duignan/6469">Brian Duignan</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-simplify-root"></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":17855,"pageLength":208,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.48"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.133.48' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"SMALL","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":true,"hasAiTopQuestions":false,"hasSimplifyButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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