Would you say there is true altruism? Or is every action performed in order to benefit one's self?

A member of our community recently asked for opinions about altruism and actions. Since I have so many unwanted opinions to spare, I felt compelled to offer some of them to you here in this reply. These are... keep reading →

I think both are true. Every action is done to benefit one's self. However, in many cases a person will get more utility from helping others. It's teh feeling of self-satisfaction that comes from helping someone, and the guilt from not helping them, that makes people act altruistically. However, I don't think that makes their actions any less admirable.

No, not all actions are for the benefit of one's self, although many are. Like the comment I posted on Quilligrapher's "Are altruistic acts truly unselfish?", the popular controversy on altruism is all about distinguishing between the concept of intention (motivation) and the rewarding effect of the behavior. I have posted the example of a man who failed to save himself by saving a child. In this example, the reward will be of no use to the man.

But there is more to the subject of Altruism than the popular controversy surrounding it. I have made a similar article answering the question "Can Humans be truly Altruistic?" using twi different perspectives in Psychology. You can read it here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Can-Humans-be-truly-Altrui

Some people is really altruist. But the most of us only act in order to expect benefits from their actions.

The philosophy you are alluding to in this question is Skepticism. Skepticism is widely disapproved of as a reasonable philosophy because, if one continuously speculates on intent then it would be impossible to explain the human condition or elucidate anything useful about existing. When one doesn't prove or disprove anything, one is not making an argument and as such provides no insight.

Looking at Ramon's remark I would say that you would have to specify the semantics of the word 'benefit.' This gets into metaphysics but we could claim that the man who had expired went to heaven and then the sense of the word 'benefit' nullifies your argument.