Rachlin: ALTRUISM AND SELFISHNESS: BBS Call for Commentators
PSYCOLOQUY
ALTRUISM AND SELFISHNESS
by
Howard Rachlin
http://www.bbsonline.org/Preprints/Rachlin/Referees/
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ALTRUISM AND SELFISHNESS
Howard Rachlin
Psychology Department
State University of New York
Stony Brook, New York, 11794-2500
KEYWORDS: addiction, altruism, commitment, cooperation, defection,
egoism, impulsiveness, patterning, prisoner9s dilemma, reciprocatio
n, reinforcement, selfishness, self-control
ABSTRACT: Many situations in human life present choices between (a)
narrowly preferred particular alternatives and (b) narrowly less
preferred (or aversive) particular alternatives that nevertheless
form part of highly preferred abstract behavioral patterns. Such
alternatives characterize problems of self-control. Fo r example, at
any given moment, a person may accept alcoholic drinks yet also pref
er being sober to being drunk over the next few days. Other
situations present choices between (a) alternatives beneficial to an
individual and (b) alternative s that are less beneficial (or
harmful) to the individual that would nevertheless be beneficial if
chosen by many individuals. Such alternatives characterize problem s
of social cooperation; choices of the latter alternative are
generally considere d to be altruistic. Altruism, like self-control,
is a valuable temporally-extended pattern of behavior. Like
self-control, altruism may be learned and maintained o ver an
individual9s lifetime. It needs no special inherited mechanism.
Individual ac ts of altruism, each of which may be of no benefit (or
of possible harm) to the act or, may nevertheless be beneficial when
repeated over time. However, because each selfish decision is
individually preferred to each altruistic decision, people c an
benefit from altruistic behavior only when they are committed to an
altruistic pattern of acts and refuse to make decisions on a
case-by-case basis
http://www.bbsonline.org/Preprints/Rachlin/Referees/
___________________________________________________________
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