Comment by jamiek88
2 hours ago
Matters of degree, no?
But that was poorly punctuated I meant selfishness or even evil not that they were equivalent.
2 hours ago
Matters of degree, no?
But that was poorly punctuated I meant selfishness or even evil not that they were equivalent.
Thanks for clarifying.
Re matters of degree, I would disagree. The opposite of selfishness would be selflessness. This sounds like a good thing, eg being altruistic is assumed to be 'good', but then, it could also be about imposing one's values on someone, and devaluing the self. It could be a means of control (was forced altruism in communist countries 'good', for example). Selflessness - selfishness's opposite - can also be characterised as 'evil'.
Ayn Rand argues in the "The Virtue of Selfishness" that selfishness is a good thing, if you want to see a lovely argument.
Anyway, I don't think it's clear that it's a matter of degree, no.