SELFISH – to be or not to be?

(A psychological, social, moral and scientific perspectives)

Part 2 of the series

By Dr Kuldip Sidhu, PhD

“Seeking positive emotions is a metaphysical – it’s innate, the way our consciousness is built with no much free will over it” .

HISTORICAL

The origin of the word, selfish dates back to 1630–40. The implications of selfishness have inspired divergent views within religious, philosophical, psychological, ethical, moral, economic, and evolutionary contexts.

Aristotle (384–322 BC) an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist also considered the “Father of Western Philosophy” and a teacher of Alexander provided a complex and harmonious synthesis of the various existing philosophies prior to him, including those of Socrates and Plato, and it was above all from his teachings that the West inherited its fundamental intellectual lexicon, as well as problems and methods of inquiry. As a result, his philosophy has exerted a unique influence on almost every form of knowledge in the West and it continues to be central to the contemporary philosophical discussion. He also joined a perceived majority of his countrymen in condemning those ‘who sought only to profit themselves; but he approved the man of reason who sought to gain for himself the greatest share of that which deserved social praise’.

According to him, how can we not call a person selfish who dedicates himself, body and soul, to the search for wisdom, justice and beauty? But these men are virtuous though selfish but this selfishness not harmful, but rather noble.

Confucius (551–479 BC) was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher and his philosophy is also known as Confucianism, emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity.

He taught core value that consisted of 5 basic virtues: seriousness, generosity, sincerity, diligence and kindness also known popularly as ‘Rén’ most often translated as “benevolence” or “humaneness and other translations that have been put forth include “authoritativeness” and “selflessness.” Confucius’s moral system was based upon empathy and understanding others, rather than divinely ordained rules. Confucius asserts that virtue is a mean between extremes. For example, the properly generous person gives the right amount—not too much and not too little.

Lord Krishna (before the common era, > 2000 years ago) in Bhagavad Geeta points to the three qualities (gunas) as the elements of the material world. These are, saatva – goodness, light, or purity; rajas – passion, activity, energy; tamas – darkness, ignorance. ‘Selfish desire’ comes from rajas, which when imbalanced, causes spikes in anger, and fear, and possessiveness. The key, then, is awareness of all these forces. By making knowledge the goal of all action, a person can find freedom without renouncing the material world; thus, true knowledge is the greatest purifier of the soul no matter how (selfishly or altruistically?) it is attained.

Selfishness was viewed in the Western Christian tradition as a central vice – as standing at the roots of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ such as pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.

With the emergence of a commercial society, Bernard Mandeville (1670 – 1733) proposed the paradox that social and economic advance depended on private vices – on what he called the sordidness of selfishness. According to him true virtue should endeavour the benefit of others or conquest of one’s own passion (selfishness?).

Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) portrayal of human nature as animalistic and dark has implied that inherently the strongest motivating factor of human nature is to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Further if there were no societal boundaries, rules and regulations (Superego) we would pursue whatever was on our own interest (selfish desires and wishes) and would overlook or would not care for others wishes and wants and even the implications of our behaviour on others life.

Remember when asked about the pervasive destruction in Iraq invasion by US, Donald Rumsfeld famously replied, “stuff happens.” What did he mean by that? One popular interpretation is that he was suggesting that people who are released from social responsibilities, for example by the fall of their government, revert to their “natural state,” acting out of unadulterated, primal self-interest (Freud’s theory).

Adam Smith (1723-1790) with the concept of the invisible hand saw the economic system as usefully channelling selfish self-interest to wider ends; while John Locke (1632-1704) based society upon the solitary individual, arguably opening the door for later thinkers like Ayn Rand (1905-1982) to argue for ‘selfishness’ as a ‘social virtue’ and the root of social progress.

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Lack of empathy has been seen as one of the roots of selfishness, extending as far as the cold manipulation of the psychopath particularly in the underdeveloped world.

The contrast between self-affirmation and selfishness has become a conflictual arena in which the respective claims of individual/community are often played out between parents and children or men and women, for example.

Psychoanalysts favour the development of a genuine sense of self, and may even speak of a healthy selfishness, as opposed to the self-occlusion of what Anna Freud (1885-1982) called ’emotional surrender’.

Self-centeredness was marked as a key feature in a phenomenological theory of criminality named “The Criminal Spin” model. Accordingly, in most criminal behaviours there is a heightened state of self-centeredness, that differently manifests itself in different situations and in different forms of criminality.

‘Being called selfish doesn’t feel like a compliment, but the trait can actually make you a better person, psychology experts say. “When you take care of yourself first, you show up as a healthy, grounded person in life,” says Bob Rosen, author of Grounded: How Leaders Stay Rooted in an Uncertain World (Jossey-Bass, 2013).

Oriented around survival, Rosen says it’s in our nature to take care of our own needs first. The instinct eventually got a bad rap, however, and became the source of negative emotions like fear and guilt.

‘If you can’t take care of yourself, then you can’t care for others. Being selfish is critical.’

Does that mean you can’t be altruistic unless selfish?

“As we evolved, we developed higher order needs [greater good] tend to become community oriented or cantered”. “Our theory of human development is based on a model that you’re either selfish or you’re community oriented (altruistic). The truth is that you need to be both. It’s not an either-or.”

According to Melissa Deuter, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Centre at San Antonio, “Selfish is an ugly word but it can mean two different things,” she says. “One connotation is that you’re unkind and inconsiderate of others. The other is that you take responsibility for getting your personal, emotional and physical needs met, and that’s an important part of becoming an adult.”

(To be continued…)

About the author

Professor Kuldip Sidhu, is the co-founder and Director of CK Cell Technologies and he has been the Chair of Stem Cell Biology and the Director, Stem Cells Lab, currently Conjoint Professor,

Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia. His research is focused in developing stem cell-based human cosmeceuticals, diagnostics and therapeutics particularly for ageing, wound healing, neurodegenerative diseases and osteoarthritis.

Thus far he has produced at the international level 2 books, 21 book /review chapters, more than 200 research papers and articles and many intellectual properties/patents.  He has several accolades, the latest being ‘NRI of 2018’. His passion for science goes beyond in travelling, wine making and tennis.