Selfishness College Essays Samples For Students

Ayn Rand’s essays in a book titled The Virtue of Selfishness are thought provoking on the issues of ethics and are a continuation of the discourse on what actions should be considered as moral or amoral as performed by human beings. The traditional ethicists have always viewed self-interest with suspicion with most of the ethicist praising acts that are selfless in intent while viewing actions motivated by self-interest as amoral acts. According to the traditional view of ethics, a self-centered individual does not deliberate the wellbeing of other people and, therefore, will damage the interest of others while ...

Leadership is surrounded by many factors that affect the performance of people who are holding leadership positions. Strengths are the positive traits that a leader displays in character and the way he/she deals with the actions. On the other hand, the dark sides involve the negative characteristics that are displayed by a leader. The strengths and dark sides of a leader relate because they are part of one person.
The strengths include honesty, ability to communicate and inspire people, commitment, and humility and so on. These qualities are nurtured in a person via self-discipline and religious guidance. For example, Christian leaders follow ...

I believe that selfishness and indifference are terrible scourges of our time. In the modern world the problem of alienation and indifference arose very sharply. People increasingly do not pay attention to other people's pain and suffering. They do not want to help anyone, almost never taking the initiative or responsibility. This behaviour is, unfortunately, becoming usual. People put their interest first and over others to get what they want in their life.
Selfishness is a terrible disease that infected most of the world's population. The constant concern that a large number of problems, mistrust of the outside world, ...

How did Thomas Hobbes Understand The Connection Between Religion And Politics?

Introduction
Thomas Hobbes was born in 1588 in England; he was an English Philosopher of the 17th century who was best known for the work done in the fields of political and moral philosophies. He wrote a book named as Leviathan (1651) in which he shared his political views. The early life of Thomes Hobbes was spent free of anxiety as he attained education from the finest institutions where he interacted with the most intellectual people and prominent personalities who were expert in their fields. His work struggled a lot to gain society acceptance. His books are the depiction ...

Compare and contrast Achilles in Dante’s Inferno and Homer’s Iliad

Compare and contrast Achilles in Dante’s Inferno and Homer’s Iliad

Introduction

Dante Alighieri in his legendary text, Inferno, believes that anyone who committed unacceptable deeds would be damned eternally among the nine circles of Hell. Without a doubt, people like Achilles were to be found in these circles. Specifically, Achilles existed in Hell’s second circle. He qualified for this circle by being not only extremely selfish but lacking self-control, having raging passions and betraying his country at times. These descriptions paint Achilles largely in weakness. His description of Hell focuses mainly on his failings rather than his ...

Cities in Cinemas: “Gone Baby Gone” by Ben Affleck

Gone Baby Gone is a film from 2007 and it is about the dark side of humanity, selfishness, but also about caring and about being moral and righteous. These themes are present in the film Gone Baby Gone and the film is successful in depicting major social and family issues. The story follows child kidnapping, two private detectives, the police and their attitude towards what means to do the right thing. The protagonist is a private detective, Patrick and he is a man of high integrity and moral standards, focused on doing his job consciously.
The dark side of ...

Abstract

It is very difficult to judge human nature as either good or evil based on mere observation or analysis of the past and the present. Human nature is very complex, yet it may also be viewed in very simplistic terms. The concepts of what is good or evil is heavily influenced by the environment a person grows in, and what defines human nature may be intrinsically inborn or may be influenced by acquired notions from society. This paper seeks to make an informed argument on whether human nature is good or evil.

Conclusion

Human nature is the argument that all humans ...

Philosophy Questions

1. Ross’ s Moral Theory is considered to stand between Kant’s strict deontological theory and theological theory of utilitarianism. According to the philosopher, there existed several prima facie duties that people had to hold in respect if they did not contradict one another. In case they conflicted, human’s intuition would help to make the right choice and find the weightiest and the most important duty. Ross stated that any prima facie obligation could be redefined by more important ones. While Kant saw all obligations absolute and exceptionless, Ross allowed maximization of the good as one of the ...

In today’s literary world, Robert Browning belongs to a club of great literary minds and is considered in retrospect to have been “one of the most important poets of Victorian England” (Martin 8). During his lifetime, however, his work received considerable criticism and was often not well-received. Much of the criticism was related to the unconventional form he took. Part of this unconventional form can be seen in Browning’s treatment of the aristocracy of his time. But before this can be discussed in terms of his work, it is first important to understand both Victorian England and ...

Selfishness is a quality that is found deep within us all, regardless of whether or not we acknowledge it. Buried deep within, selfishness oozes out from our dark side. Individuals are actually disposed to coordinate with one another, to address their own issue and goals.
People who tend to be egotistical are coordinative to reach the desire that they need and crave. In order to reach their goal, we will do whatever it takes to utilize every material and individual around us for our own success not thinking twice about the effect it has on others. People who are
 ...

Personification

One of the most commonly used devices in literature is personification. Personification refers to a figure of speech where an inanimate object, an idea, or an animal gains human qualities. In this device, the portrayal of non-human objects is in such a way that they appear to possess human like ability. This device is important since it connects the personified object with the reader. Personification has the ability to improve the vividness of description of non-human objects. Another advantage is that it can help the readers to understand non-human characters and to sympathize with, and react emotionally to non-human characters. In ...

The culture that we live in needs to rediscover the selfless spirit. The cultural selfishness revolving around "what's in it for me?" has replaced the view that the act of giving is blessed rather than the act of receiving (Skinner 2011). Jesus Christ was a messiah who sacrificed himself for the greater good of mankind. He embraced death for the salvation of men to deliver them from all their sins. While reflecting upon the question as to how Jesus provided an antidote to cultural selfishness, there are plenty of episodes to choose from the gospel according to John. However, the ...

Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi is a visionary Islamic Persian who lived in the 13th century. His family are known as scholars and spiritual leaders. He was born in a Persian town called Wakhsh which is now part of Tajikistan. He lived his life searching for inner peace, love and purity of the soul which are the contents of almost all of his poems. Although he is an Islam by religion, his writings showed his advocacies in religious pluralism. Rumi did not write any poem suggesting the hierarchy of truths. Rather, his poems are mostly about finding peaceful life by being pure at ...

Weiss uses a play within a play to showcase historical facts and adds dramatic fantasy to it. The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul are based on a true story about the French execution of Jean-Paul Murat. Murat highly participated in the French revolution of 1973 and was executed because of his radical involvement in the movement. The play was set in an asylum that is looked upon by the Coulmier. The year 1973 is a time that witnessed the dramatic changes in the French revolution. The wealthy class in the society started negotiating with the poor in an effort to discourage the invasion ...

Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is similar to Joyce novel, “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” in regards to the evil of that exists in the society. One can see how people deteriorate slowly based on the evil that is within. Similar to the actions of Stephen with the prostitute, the evil present in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” shows how individuals create their personal evil. In addition, both writers employ different stylistic approach to writing. The dialogue is in simple language in the “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” The reader clearly sees where each ...

The prince is a political treatise which political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli which was a dedication to Lorenzo di Piero de medici.in this dedication Machiavelli describes the type of society they live in and advices the prince on how to maintain a firm grip of his political power and ensure loyalty from all his statesmen. Machiavelli opens his work by saying, “all states all powers that have held and hold rule over men have been either republics or principalities” (Machiavelli, p.1). This is perhaps one of the earliest instances of the use of the word state to refer to an administrative territory. Machiavelli ...

Over the centuries, philosophers have formulated theoretical framework disengaging right from wrong to guide the society in living an ethical life. My worldview leans significantly to the theoretical framework of virtue ethics. This theory postulates that living rightly an individual has to develop the virtues of courage, temperance, wisdom and compassion, while at the same time avoid vices such as selfishness, greed and jealousy, (Shafer-Landau, 2007). My philosophical view of life is that of living virtuously, I consider this type of living as bringing peaceful coexistence between members of the society and keeping conflicts on the low, if they ...

There are different opinions about the causes and effects of climate change and whether or not there is anything we can do to halt it. Some people believe that there is little point in efforts such as recycling and installing energy saving light bulbs as such initiatives are too insignificant in comparison to the scale of the problem. However, with climate change causing such drastic issues such as food shortages around the world, surely any effort we make to slow it down has to be worth the trouble.
Climate change is a modern controversy, which gathers an opinion from ...

English Literature

Climate change is a modern controversy which garners an opinion from nearly every person walking on the planet today. In his article, entitled Why Bother?, Michael Pollan discusses the futility of our situation on Earth, and questions why it seems worth us trying at all when our efforts seem so insignificant; he opens his essay by stating how ridiculous it is to ask us to change our light bulbs in pursuit of a solution: “the immense disproportion between the magnitude of the problem [Al] Gore had described and the puniness of what he was asking us to do about it was ...

Political Order

In the history of man and his pursuit of power, there are various lines which enemies drew upon each other as they seek to make their points stand out. The twentieth century remains one of the most historic times for the end of major wars between men, paving the way for the future movements, rules, and guidelines. Political power among major nations led to the beginning of World War I and II, which led to the death of millions of people, leaving some of the nation’s poorer than before. One might argue out that these wars were unnecessary ...

Business

2016-07-23

Introduction

This paper is devoted to the issue of the companies of Elon Musk and Tesla and their compliance with the Moral Compass (Elon Musk’s Empire, 2016). The chosen news is related to the personal and corporate integrity.
It should be noted that personal interests as well as professional interests can impact on the company. In this case, expression and defending each of own interests by the business entity can lead to a phenomenon that is called a conflict of interests. Entering into transactions with each other, every company seeks to realize selfish interests, which may not coincide ...

Khaled Hosseini’s book The Kite Runner revolves around affection, trust, and betrayal towards Amir and Hassan. Though the story is told through the lens of Amir, it succeeds remarkably in showing the value of friendship, loyalty, and social demarcations that arise from cultural, political, and economic backdrops. Since the story revolves around Amir and Hassan as the main characters, comparing and contrasting these two boys can go a long way in exploring the themes of Hosseini’s literature work.
Despite the huge differences between them, Amir and Hassan do share a number of similarities. To begin with, the ...

Utilitarianism is the direction in philosophy, the basic principles of which were set out by Jeremy Bentham in his work "Introduction to the principles of morals and legislation" (1780). The system of utilitarianism was developed in its classical form by John Stuart Mill. Mill formulated the basic arguments of utilitarianism opposing the many critics and, in particular, the followers of Kant.
Kant and his followers viewed utilitarianism as egoistic behavior of human beings that was result of absence of their moral principles. That is why the scholars of this direction called the doctrine of utilitarianism worthy of swine. It ...

Abstract

Sigmund Freud, the Father of Psychoanalysis, has made lasting contributions in the field of psychology because of his theory on psychosexual and personality development. His unorthodox psychological techniques and theory were influenced by his forerunners and then, after his lifetime, left a lasting impact about how nurture explains human consciousness and behavior, especially, on mental illnesses. His three aspect of the mind: superego, ego, and id, are apt psychodynamic explanations about the workings of the mind and human behavior among his avid followers of psychoanalysts. Further, his stages of psychosexual development: pre-genital, oral, etc., not to mention Oedipus and ...

Monsters are creatures that everyone is told that lurks in the darkness of the night. They are hideous, grotesque creatures and would kill you as soon as they look at you. It is something inhuman that has no regard for life, life, and anything good in the world. Mary Shelly brought to life a monster in her novel Frankenstein. She lures the audience into believing that the monster Victor Frankenstein created is the true horror of the novel. However, if one were to examine the deeds of Victor Frankenstein he would take the honor of being the real monster ...

Innumerable endeavours to fight against domestic violence are often seen to be hindered by the various myths associated with the topic of domestic violence. These myths have been evolved partially because it is highly difficult to construe the reason behind one person hurting another hurt another, particularly specifically in the context of a relationship as intimate as a marriage. Myths typically offer imprecise information related to the incidence of domestic violence, and most such myths are almost common all over the world.
Culture and traditions are often believed to be offering the required strength and reinforcement to both families ...

A Good Man Is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor, was published as part of a larger Anthology in 1953, and is today among the most well-known of O’Connor’s works. The short story takes place in the American Southeast and follows a family traveling on family vacation from Geiogria to Florida. The grandmother, who is blatantly selfish, wants to go to Tennessee instead, and starts fights with everyone in the family in hopes of getting her way. Further, the family’s travels seem to parallel the escape of a violent man known as The Misfit, who ...

Introduction 3

Problem Definition 3
Economic Theories 3
Analysis 6
Conclusion and Recommendations 12

Bibliography 14

Are the Rich Getting Richer and the Poor Getting Poorer Still Today
Introduction
Nowadays there is a lot of discussion whether the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer in the modern world. The answer to this question lies in the very understanding of poverty. Various economic schools employ different approaches when describing the causes of poverty. Therefore, they give different answers to the question mentioned above. Some of them think that the statement about the enrichment of the rich and the impoverishment of ...

Philosophy of Religion – Pascal’s Wager

The question of existence of God has been a bone of contention among many philosophers ever since philosophy existed. Earlier the arguments in favor of God dominated, but later, close to the time of modernity, it appears as if arguments against God’s existence have dominated, irrespective of the validity and plausibility of the arguments. However, even in the modern times, many philosophers tried to defend the existence of God. Among those Blaise Pascal was also one whose argument became famous with the name of Pascal’s wager. The main idea of the argument was that one must wager for ...

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INTRODUCTION

Kids of today are the future consumers of tomorrow. Marketers and consumer brands have understood and identified this fact and have targeted their marketing efforts towards this generation to emotionally attach with them and raise loyal customers for them. As stated by the VC of J. Walter Thompson a renowned advertising agency that marketing and advertising is not only about creating awareness of products but the bigger idea is to create a future consumer base who are eager to buy more and attach with the brand. Marketers and advertisers have targeted young adults ...

Introduction

The validity of the law cannot be associated with morality though; there are many instances where moral norms becomes important when formulating laws but still the society can change them if needs be. This concept clearly shows the power of moral decadence and offensive laws existing in legal systems. The dignity in the society continues to depreciate since the law does not take its validity from morality. There are many actions disallowed in the past, but in the current times, they are the most praised acts. The human rights organization plays a major role in disregarding a moral society and promoting ...

For centuries, humankind has been forming stereotypes about men and women, which are still in operation, regardless of time and quality differences of personality of men and women. Gender stereotypes are beliefs that have developed in the socio-cultural environment about how men and women behave. Since they are formed under the influence of society, they are subject to changes.
Gender stereotypes are often related to distribution of family roles (a woman – a mother and homemaker, a man – earner), competencies (women are more suited for humanitarian work or service sector, men are technicians or managers) and politics (politics – not for women).

There is distinguished a set of binary oppositions, stereotypically attributed to men and women (Peterson, Puhl and Luedicke, 2012):

Qualities, ...

In simple words racism can be described as poor treatment and judgment of people based on their race. The root of racial discrimination is in ignorance and lack of knowledge and experience of some people. Modern world offers a huge variety of different resources where people can find information, read other opinions, experiences but, unfortunately, it didn’t eliminate racism. Some people remain shallow and continue judging others by the color of their skin. Racism became an issue because it has spread to all levels of life and even expanded. It is important to understand, that racism is inevitable, however, ...

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, published in 1955, is an excellent exposition of grace and sin. It is also based on the notion that existence of God is is depended on morality. This story is about grandmother and his journey from being a manipulative and selfish woman to the realization of being graceful. This story is based on the core notion that one feels the reality of life when they are faced with the worst situation in life. The grandmother who is the central character in this story tries to convince her family to ...

Theme comparison between ‘the destructors’ and ‘the most dangerous game’

Introduction
Authors utilize literature to pass message to the intended audience. While each story/ work of literature focuses on a similar occasion, character or event, the similarity in the themes, motifs and characterization indicate a similarity in the nature of the human condition. Different occasions and experiences when presented through literature, reveal that while the location, characters and motivations might be different, the persevering nature of the themes reveal similarities in the experience of between people in different settings.

Thesis statement

This essay seeks to; Compare the themes between the short stories, ‘the destructors’ and ‘the most dangerous game’ with relation to ...

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Angels of Despair: A Researched Paper on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
In today's society it is often the case that we exclude the people and the things that do not make sense to us, or more often than not, do not fit in the rules and regulations of good "society." This is especially true in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings." The story takes place in early times, as a baby lies dying from an unknown disease. In a twist of events, a dirty angel falls from the sky ...

Introduction

The caudillos of 19th-century Latin American history played an important part in the shaping and molding of Latin America into a state led by charismatic leaders who were able to assert their own considerable will over the people and enact social and governmental change. In the 19th century, the more iconic caudillos such as Simon Bolivar and Porfirio Diaz exerted tremendous energy and willpower to ensure that they shaped their respective countries in the ways they wanted. Even so, more modern revolutionary figures, even in their zeal to overthrow the classist politics of the caudillo, exerted a tremendous and earnest desire ...

Question: Why do you think so many followers of the Buddha grew to regard him as a savior rather than just an enlightened spiritual teacher? Might the same explanation be given for Jesus as Messiah?
Buddhism is the dominant religion in the eastern part of the world. Born of an affluent family in approximately 560 B.C in northern India, Siddhartha Gautama founded Buddhism. His father ruled over what is today known as Nepal and confined his son to a wealthy life in the palace where he sheltered from the outside world. However, Gautama witnessed four things about human suffering that ...

Two different moral philosophies, utilitarianism and Kant’s categorical imperative are utilized for analyzing whether J.’s action of embezzling her employer was correct, even if the end was to provide a better private tuition for her son.
The utilitarianism philosophy is based on the principle of doing the greatest good for the biggest amount of individuals, while being free from pain and engaging in pleasure (Mill 220). However, the utilitarianism ethics provides that there should be clearly specified between simple, animal pleasures, and elevated pleasures, of which individuals with high intellectual capacities are capable. In this sense, Mill ( ...

Management

Abstract
This essay presents a hypothetical global high-tech company that operates in Tokyo, London, Bombay, Toronto, Mexico city, Chicago and Seattle among others. The company has been enjoying reasonable sales even with the global financial crisis. However, there is an internal crisis relating to employee morale are at an all-time low. There are numerous different beliefs concerning what is wrong and right throughout the company especially in communication and cultural differences and technological equipment challenges. There is selfishness among employees because they do not like working in teams. The responsibility of the Vice President (VP) in the Service department ...

All accounts and stories of how man came to be showcase humans as being good in nature. From the accounts of creation, to those who believe the origin of man to be from the gods, man has always been portrayed as being pure. The accounts explain that a man was sinless when he came to be. The reason is that nature played a crucial part in maintaining the divineness of man until he regrouped to form a society. Nature was depicted as being filled with goodness. In nature, everything is devoid of any evil or sin. What remains is only pureness. Therefore, ...

Introduction

Wealth inequality remains a topic of concern, not only in the United States, but across various settings all over the globe. Researches carried out in the recent past indicate that the wealth disparities have and continue to worsen, and soon such disparities will reach its extreme and this would have a severe impact on economic development (Rousseau, 2007). Notably, there are various ways in which wealth inequality jeopardize economic growth of any given nation. More importantly, it results in impaired social mobility of the populations. In addition, wealth inequality results in an increase in the number of people who are less ...

Many writers have found themselves writing about society in an indirect way through the features and attributes they reflect in their writings. The same can be said about The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay which was a representation of class boundaries and therefore had an impact on the consciousness of the public. The conventions that Gay uses continue to influence society today as it satirizes and mocks what society creates as societal stereotypes. Class boundaries in London at the time had caused major disintegration that became inevitable because of the nature of the problems that the disintegration caused. The ...

Introduction

The most significant period in the history of Christianity was witnessed during the time of Jesus. After his triumphant ministry, Christianity later, with the support of leaders like Augustus Caesar, became a dominant religion in the larger Roman Empire. However, it later spread to different corners of the world mainly as a result of the early apostles. Today, Christianity is one of the major classical religions in the world (Crouch, J.E., 2000). However, it has had to deal with schisms which have divided into numerous denominations, sects and cults. Mostly, these have resulted from the different doctrinal positions held by each ...

Overview and analysis of Shakespeare and King Lear

William Shakespeare, the most famous and celebrated English poet, has been known to the world over the past 400 and more years, and yet had remained a mystery throughout this time. Many researchers and historians have undertaken the task of writing his biography, and still it is not well known. The reason for this is that the facts about Shakespeare's personal life have been drawn from two types of sources, the first one referring to official documentation, which in the time of his life was restricted to court and church records, while the second is his rich opus. Indeed, according ...

The Grandmother

In this story, this character considers herself morally superior than the rest of the people basically because she is a lady. This character makes frequent judgments on others. She claims that her conscience is the main driving force in her life and she considers herself perfect in the way she does her activities. She claims that she could not afford to allow her children to walk in the same direction like Misfit did so that her conscience is not compromised. This character also criticized the mother of the children by claiming that she never allowed the children to travel in ...

International Justice - Moral Obligation

Introduction
Considering the nature of moral obligation as a moral principle, philosophers argue that this principle is related to religious doctrines or rational philosophical reasoning. As such, referring to the moral principle, Kant stated “Two things fill my mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe: The starry heavens above me and the moral law within me” (Josephson, 2011, para. 12). Based on this philosophy people are obliged to themselves to seek to respect their moral principles, even if they are conflicting with the law – imposed principles and norms (Josephson, 2011). In this case, equalizing resources and economic opportunities across international ...

A family is in the core of each individual's life. It is a child's first contact with the outside world as well as its first teacher. Thus, the family shapes the behavior and conduct of children, as they understand their role in the family and society, including development of their social skills. However, there are no specific parenting rules that ensure successful parent-child relationships or discipline techniques that will assure parents those children will grow responsible, respectful, and successful. Instead, there are guides that parents adhere to based on their experiences while growing up or according to their cultural beliefs. ...

Jean-Jacques Rousseau has remained to be one of the most significant people in history, as well as the present philosophy. He made many contributions to many areas, which include moral psychology and the area of political philosophy. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was the son one ordinary watchmaker Isaac Rousseau and Suzanne Bernard. He was born 1712, in the city state of Calvinist in Geneva; Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s father was one among the few minorities of the people from Geneva who were given the chance to enjoy the ranking of Geneva citizens. This was a vital status that was passed on from generation ...

Into the Wild is a story of a young graduate from Emory University, who belongs to a well to do family. This novel, written by Jon Krakauer, is based on the true story of Chris McCandless. McCandless has been portrayed as a very passionate human being who lets his feelings overrule his sensibility. After learning that his father had another family when he was a child, McCandless turns into another person. His sense of betrayal is so overwhelming that he starts to keep all his friends and family at bay and never gets too close to them. After completing his graduation he gives away ...

Introduction

Patriotism and cosmopolitanism is a topic that has attracted debate on which should be emphasized. This has been considered more so looking at the American history and what the students are taught in school. Patriotism requires students to pledge allegiance to their nation and even their ethnic communities. Cosmopolitanism on the other hand requires them to have w wider view of themselves. Their identity should not just be based on their nation or community of origin but as citizens of the world. Having such a view may not only be impossible but also come with certain challenges. In as much as ...