Selfishness Vs. Disorders

Selfishness is, at base, the concept and/or practice of concern with one’s own interests in some sort of priority to the Interests of others; it is often used to refer to a self-interest that comes in a particular form, or above a certain level.

We all contain this trait to some degree or another. We have to. If we did not think of ourselves at least once a day we would never survive. A glass of water can be perceived as something I need. The thought that I need a glass of water and getting that glass of water is, in itself, an act for one’s self. However, this can’t be constituted as a selfish act. For it is not in priority to the interest of others.

Now let’s say I’m supposed to call a friend and tell them when a party is going to start or some thing like that. If I decide that I am thirsty and instead of calling that friend I decide to grab a glass of water instead. Is that now a selfish act? Is my thirst less important then that phone call? Granted, as soon as I am done quenching my dry palate I would call that friend. Hell, I would probably drink the water while I was talking to them. However, the fact of putting your thirst above your friend is considered a selfish act.

We as humans deal with these types of decisions every day. The above example is a very unoffensive situation. By definition it is a selfish act. However, I don’t know any friend that would be upset that someone grabbed a glass of water before calling them. One view is that since one needs to act in a mainly self-interested way in order to advance in life, doing so should not be regarded as wrong, or labeled as harmful or inappropriate. The unfortunate thing is it deals with interpretation of the affected party. While most would not get upset with the water situation, others may. Especially if the thirsty party has a history of acting for oneself. Then little acts such as grabbing a glass of water could be offensive. A well known example is probably the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand, which focuses on what it calls “rational selfishness” or “rational self-interest.” The philosophy holds that individuals should not act on momentary self-interested whims, but on what is in their long-term self-interest, which is defined to require respecting the individual liberty of others by refraining from initiating coercion against them.