I have to admit that question was asked a little ambivalently. I hearby append
the wry ;-) to the end of it. Of course this is an appropriate place to begin.
>>I believe any thinking person acknowledges the idea of pure communism as
>>the most attractive, most altruistc, and most desireable system from an
>>intellectual perspective.
>
>Sorry. Most altruistic? Maybe. Attractive? Desirable? Not to me it ain't
>and I like to think of myself as a thinking person. See the
>'Sociological change' thread for a fuller discussion.
Too strong on my part. Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word "communism".
I'm speaking more of "flower power","lets all be on one mind
and soul" sort of bright shiny commune-ism. Not the grey, drab kind I think
I was evoking with the word.
>>We are altruistic...in the sense that we can engage in trade, that we can
>>delay gratification, that we are willing to "invest" effort today on the
>>assumption that there will be return with interest at a later date, and
>>that the extrapolation of these abilities allows us to create and test new
>>and more mutually benificial mechanisms of group/self-interest.
>
>You have departed so far from any accepted definition of altruism that
>I've ever come across (they all include selflessness) that I can't help
>wondering if you're using the right word. Are you sure you're not just
>trying to lever the word into an inappropriate use?
Absolutely! What a great analysis. I don't know if this is a morally
appropriate thing to do. What do you think?
Reed
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Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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