The Practice of Altruism
The Practice of Altruism

Author: International Association for the History of Religions. Congress

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13:

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The study of altruism and altruistic behavior has caught the attention of social scientists especially in recent years. What motivates individuals to cultivate attitudes and actions that promote the wellbeing of others at the expense of, or at the risk of negative consequences for their own? In our contemporary global society marked by conflict and violence among different sectors of the population in various regions of the world, and wherein religion can be a factor that exacerbates such conflict and violence, harnessing the power of religion towards directions of reconciliation, creativity, and altruistic action, remains a crucial task for humankind. This volume addresses a question especially relevant in our day: do people who profess religious commitment or affiliation in a particular religious community tend to nurture altruistic kinds of attitude and action more than others? Social scientists present results of their empirical studies on Japanese society, as well as on North American, European, Indian, and Thai societies, to focus on this issue and offer insightful reflections on the relationship between religion and society.

Altruism
Altruism

Author: Matthieu Ricard

Publisher: Little, Brown

Published: 2015-06-02

Total Pages: 900

ISBN-13: 0316208213

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The author of the international bestseller Happiness makes a passionate case for altruism -- and why we need it now more than ever. In Happiness, Matthieu Ricard demonstrated that true happiness is not tied to fleeting moments or sensations, but is an enduring state of soul rooted in mindfulness and compassion for others. Now he turns his lens from the personal to the global, with a rousing argument that altruism -- genuine concern for the well-being of others -- could be the saving grace of the 21st century. It is, he believes, the vital thread that can answer the main challenges of our time: the economy in the short term, life satisfaction in the mid-term, and environment in the long term. Ricard's message has been taken up by major economists and thinkers, including Dennis Snower, Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz, and George Soros. Matthieu Ricard makes a robust and passionate case for cultivating altruistic love and compassion as the best means for simultaneously benefitting ourselves and our society. It's a fresh outlook on an ardent struggle -- and one that just might make the world a better place.

Doing Good Better
Doing Good Better

Author: William MacAskill

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2015-07-28

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0698191102

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Most of us want to make a difference. We donate our time and money to charities and causes we deem worthy, choose careers we consider meaningful, and patronize businesses and buy products we believe make the world a better place. Unfortunately, we often base these decisions on assumptions and emotions rather than facts. As a result, even our best intentions often lead to ineffective—and sometimes downright harmful—outcomes. How can we do better? While a researcher at Oxford, trying to figure out which career would allow him to have the greatest impact, William MacAskill confronted this problem head on. He discovered that much of the potential for change was being squandered by lack of information, bad data, and our own prejudice. As an antidote, he and his colleagues developed effective altruism, a practical, data-driven approach that allows each of us to make a tremendous difference regardless of our resources. Effective altruists believe that it’s not enough to simply do good; we must do good better. At the core of this philosophy are five key questions that help guide our altruistic decisions: How many people benefit, and by how much? Is this the most effective thing I can do? Is this area neglected? What would have happened otherwise? What are the chances of success, and how good would success be? By applying these questions to real-life scenarios, MacAskill shows how many of our assumptions about doing good are misguided. For instance, he argues one can potentially save more lives by becoming a plastic surgeon rather than a heart surgeon; measuring overhead costs is an inaccurate gauge of a charity’s effectiveness; and, it generally doesn’t make sense for individuals to donate to disaster relief. MacAskill urges us to think differently, set aside biases, and use evidence and careful reasoning rather than act on impulse. When we do this—when we apply the head and the heart to each of our altruistic endeavors—we find that each of us has the power to do an astonishing amount of good.

Altruism and Health
Altruism and Health

Author: Stephen Garrard Post

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 488

ISBN-13:

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The book provides heuristic models, from evolution and neuroscience, to explain the association between altruism and health, and examine potential public health and practical implications of the existing data.

Does Altruism Exist?
Does Altruism Exist?

Author: David Sloan Wilson

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2015-01-01

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 0300189494

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Argues that altruism is an inherent factor of group functionality and discusses how studying group function can promote positive changes to the human condition.

A Scientific Search for Altruism
A Scientific Search for Altruism

Author: C. Daniel Batson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-10-19

Total Pages: 423

ISBN-13: 0190651393

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For centuries, the egoism-altruism debate has echoed through Western thought. Egoism says that the motivation for everything we do, including our seemingly selfless acts of care for others, is to gain one or another self-benefit. Altruism, while not denying the force of self-interest, says that under certain circumstances we can care for others for their sakes, not our own. Over the past half-century, social psychologists have turned to laboratory experiments on humans to provide a scientific resolution of this debate about our nature. The experiments have focused on the possibility that empathic concern-other-oriented emotion elicited by and congruent with the perceived welfare of someone in need-produces altruistic motivation to remove that need. With carefully constructed experimental designs, these scientists have tested the nature of the motivation produced by empathic concern, determining whether it is egoistic or altruistic and, thereby, providing an answer to a fundamental question about what makes us tick. Framed as a detective story, this book traces the scientific search for altruism through numerous studies and attempts to examine various motivational suspects, reaching the improbable conclusion that empathy-induced altruism is indeed part of our nature. The book then considers the implications of this conclusion both for our understanding of who we are as humans (the bad news as well as the good) and for how we might create a more humane society.

Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective

Author: Douglas A. Vakoch

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-05-16

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 146146952X

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Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective provides such a scholarly overview, examining the intersection of culture and such topics as evolutionary accounts of altruism and the importance of altruism in ritual and religion. ​​The past decade has seen a proliferation of research on altruism, made possible in part by significant funding from organizations such as the John Templeton Foundation. While significant research has been conducted on biological, social, and individual dimensions of altruism, there has been no attempt to provide an overview of the ways that altruistic behavior and attitudes vary across cultures. The book addresses the methodological challenges of researching altruism across cultures, as well as the ways that altruism is manifest in difficult circumstances. A particular strength of the book is its attention to multiple disciplinary approaches to understanding altruism, with contributors from fields including psychology, anthropology, sociology, biology, communication, philosophy, religious studies, gender studies, and bioethics.​

Altruism
Altruism

Author: Niall Scott

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)

Published: 2007-11-16

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0335235263

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"A discussion of altruism, drawing on different disiplinary perspectives, could hardly be more timely, and this book is a thoughtful and insightful contribution to the debate." Ruth Chadwick - Distinguished Research Professor and Director, Cardiff University What motivates us to be altruistic? How did an altruistic trait evolve in humans, given that evolutionary theory assumes we are self-interested? What sorts of people are altruistic and in what circumstances? Is the welfare state a channel for altruism or does it crowd out people’s altruistic motivations? This accessible book is the first introduction to the idea of altruism. It explores how we have come to be altruistic, and considers why it is important to remain altruistic, not just for the sake of others, but in order maintain the fragile fabric of human society. The book surveys the history of the concept of altruism and examines it from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including moral philosophy, evolutionary biology, psychology, economics and political science. It then attempts to bring together the distinct issues and concerns of these disciplines to arrive at a unified understanding of altruism. The rational self-interested individual of economics is compared with the altruist who exhibits the virtues of empathy, compassion and benevolence. The book also discusses heroic altruism, such as that displayed by rescuers of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe, and psychological experiments which seek to identify the altruistic trait. Scott and Seglow argue that altruism is easily extinguished and hard to nourish, but vital for a fundamentally human future. Academics and students in social sciences and philosophy will find Altruism of great interest. So too will professionals in the voluntary and charitable sectors and journalists involved in communicating social scientific and philosophical ideas to the public.