Altruism v Egoism

Carolyn Ray egoist Aristotle article 

Assignment: Read Carolyn's article and take a stand on the issue of altruism v egoism

After reading Carolyn's long essay on egoism and Aristotle, I agree with Carolyn that friendship is egoistic. The desire for friends is inherently egoistic. When considering the deep, animalistic desires that define humans, there's no desire that supports the act of wanting or giving something to someone else. The basic desires of the human relate only to survival.

In a friendship, both people only want to be friends with the other so that they can each fulfill their own desires of  being loved, appreciated, and having a friend. Although, firiendship can be called altruist too when considering Kahn's 'nous'. If every human has the same nous, then the act of getting friends can be considered altruistic and egoistic as the desires of you and your friend are the same. In other words, your desire to become friends with someone is motivated by the same desire as the person that you're trying to be friends with.

This discussion of friendship brings up the Hegel theory regarding mutual recognition. According to Hegel, the mind wants to be recognized by being seen in a another human's mind. Mutual recognition is best achieved through friendship. the desire to be recognized is a desire of the self. According to Hegel, it is therefore egoistic to desire to obtain a friend through the theory of self recognition since people only want to recognized so that they cam fulfill an internal desire