Egoism Is Altruism

Individualism regard reducing the pain and increasing the happiness of the subject as the standard of value and justice. When we evaluate something, we judge whether it is good for ourselves first.

Human's behavior is dominated by consciousness, but human's consciousness is often self-contradictory. People often like and hate something at the same time, want to do one thing and not to do at the same time. All of people's preferences and behaviors have a common characteristic, that is meet the needs of people. People's needs determine the mood of a person, it often turns into a passion, which can burst a tremendous creativity or destructive power. Many philosophers such as Schopenhauer, Scheler, and Heidegger are concerned with human feelings, but they do not pay enough attention to people's needs.

Carl Marx regarded human's physiological needs such as eating, drinking, living and wearing as the basis of the Historical Materialism. Because of this basis, the Historical Materialism can become a great theory. Sigmund Freud regarded the need of sex as his own theoretical basis, so his theory also became a great one. But man have many other needs. Abraham Harold Maslow said people have five needs: physical, security, affiliation and love, self- esteem, and self-actualization. It is not yet complete. People also need labor, faith, aesthetic, trust and freedom. Meeting these needs all belong to individualism.

Individualism is a truth we must admit. And it is one of the major power to promote the evolution of the world. It is the source of all goodness. Adam Smith explicitly pointed out in The Wealth of Nations that the foundation of all human wealth lies in the selfish psychology that hoping to increase personal interests, and self-interest is altruism.

The ancient Chinese Neo-Confucianism demanded “Knowing the truth, exterminating the desires.” So Lu Xun called it the theory of man-eating.

Mao Zedong put forward in the article Commemoration for Bethune, we should become “a noble person, a pure person, a moral person, a person away from low taste, a man who is good for the people.” Mao's moral ideals are right and wrong. What is a pure person? It maybe mean that there is no selfishness. If there is selfishness, then he is not a pure person. What is low taste? Everyone's personal physical needs are probably of low taste. That is to say, to fight against any flash of selfishness. In the1960-70s' Cultural Revolution of China, this slogan was not invented by the “red guards”, but a summary of the Mao's three famous article. This idea must change now, individualism and low taste is not devil, as long as it doesn't hurt others, individualism and low taste is ethical. Bethune worked hard in order to satisfy everyone's individualism.

Is servicing people wholeheartedly good? Sure, but it is hard to do so. Everyone and every political party has its own interests, and it is sincere to recognize self-interest. Pursuing to selflessness could become a goal, but it's not the best one, the best goal is the unity of individual interests and the interests of others.

Why do we pursue the truth and morality? because they are the tools to realize personal interests. There are various doctrines and values in the history that make countless people fanatical and dedicated. However, it was known that only personal interests is the foundation after the fever. The fanaticism of these doctrine is a form of alienation. But it does not work without these doctrines, because people need these tools.

Lifting Your Veil

American films often end in a good Marriage, they have a highest regard for love. Love is the most intense emotion of people, it can produce the most intense joy and sorrow. Therefore, the celebration of love by the Americans represent the desire of all mankind's sincere feelings.

Egoism is true, altruism is good. When it comes to truth and goodness, we always rank the truth first. Deng Xiaoping's  proposal of letting some people get rich first is the recognition of individualism as the value of justice.

To protect one's own interests will harm others, and this kind of damages are fair to a certain extent. Buying things with bargain will damage the interests of sellers; If you take the championship in the arena, and your opponent cannot take it, then you undermine his benefits. This is a kind of behavior of harming others to benefit oneself. But everyone thinks it is good.

Self-interest is a beautiful bride, there is no need to hide her (Chinese bride used to veil her face in the wedding). It is self-deception not to admit selfish. Everyone always wear a selfless mask and show integrity, greathearted and courtesy to others. It is both rational and irrational. Japanese have many etiquette, keeping bowing, which sometimes make people feel very hypocritical. Chinese people speak very modestly, but deuced modesty will also make others feel them hypocritical.

In the 1950s to 1960s, Chinese people really believed that the government serviced people wholeheartedly, but later the reality made everyone feel deceived. Then the entire social system of value collapsed completely. People changed from total selflessness to total selfishness. As a result, general mood of society was ruin and government officials were corrupted. The big offenders caught in recent years have all been corrupted since 1990s. It can be seen that self-interest cannot be concealed, or the result is backfired.

Family Love and Maternal Love

Confucianism believes that each person's love for their parents must be more than for their relatives and friends; The love for their relatives and friends must be more than for their neighbors; The love for their neighbors must be more than for their fellow-beings; And the love for their fellow-beings must be more than for strangers. This doctrine is completely correct, the decline of love is a kind of instinct of animal and human. The gregarious animals will help each other. The motivation for this kind of help is to spread their genes, so the closer to one's own genes, the more likely to be helped.

The most sincere love of mankind is maternal love, but it is also selfish, this love is for one's own children instead of others. It is sincere because it is selfish. At the same time it is the dedication to children, not to mother herself, so it is very noble.

It seems to profane maternal love to say so, in fact, everyone can understand. Both Liu Huifang and Wang Yaru love their children very much in the drama Expectation, but we all think that Liu Huifang is very noble, no one have the same view to Wang Yaru. Because Liu Huifang brought up a child who was picked up from childhood without complaints. Although Wang Yaru loves his own children, she is sarcastic to others. It is more precious than maternal love to love other one's children as well as one's own. Maternal love also belongs to individualism, baby is mother's inter- nalization, a part of mother's body.

Confucius regarded benevolence as the highest principle of behavior. These people are evaluated as too naive. So how can we not be naive? We should regard our own interests as the highest principle and regard our benevolence as a means, especially in international relations. There are no eternal enemies in the world, no eternal friends too, only eternal interests.

We should promote dedication and praise love, but we must understand that the dedication is often driven by profit. Absolute selfless dedication is indeed exist, but not so much. Selfless dedication is precious because of lack, at the same time it is unreliable because of lack. Social development cannot rely solely on selfless dedication.

Eight Levels of Understanding of Self-interest

Thinkers at all times and in all lands have discussed personal interests, but the difference at depth of the discussion is huge. The depth of understanding of self-interest can be divided into eight levels.

First, to recognize everyone have self-interest.

Second, to see self-interest from the nature of animals. So it's a scientific fact that people is inherently evil in the beginning. The beginning of man is the animal stage, isn't it?

Third, to see the contradiction between the benefits and righteousness. Thomas Hobbes said that human beings are like wolves, social life is the war against all human beings. The Chinese ancient philosopher Xunzi said, “Human nature is evil, those kind acts are acquired behavior.”

Fourth, to see people need restraint. Mencius was right when he advocated that one should lay down one's life for justice, but it was getting reactionary when Zhu Xi put forward the idea of “Knowing the truth, exterminating the desires.” The correct approach is to restrain and admit self-interest as justice.

Fifth, to recognize that personal gain is justice. Epicurus said: “A happy life is our highest supreme kindness.” He believes that wisdom, restraint, courage and justice are necessary only as a means of their own happiness.Confucius did not regard desire as the source of all evil. “When the national politics is clear, it is shame that some people are still poor and their status are low and humble.” Sima Qian said: “Everyone flocks for the benefit, also drift apart for it.” The recognition of the legitimacy of self-interest is an improvement, but it's not enough.

Six, to see the unity of profit and justice. Adam Smith, the father of economics, said: “Our dinner is not from the favor of chefs and butchers, but doing this way is good for them. The market system ensures that businessmen increase social benefits while maximizing their own interests, and the effect is better than when the traders take the initiative to do it.” 

Seventh, to see the importance of self-interest for the evolution of society. Humanitarianism and liberalism which rising from the beginning of the Renaissance promote the liberation of humanity. Marx believes that the economic foundation determines the superstructure. The economic foundation is the activity that satisfies the desires of human beings. Hegel discusses the impact of the need for self-esteem on history. Freud discusses the impact of sexuality on social life.

Eight, scientific meta-ethics. We should regard the individualism, humanism and evolutionism as the ultimate standard of value, have a comprehensive understanding of the unity of opposites of them, and regard the meta-ethics as the basis of epistemology and ontology.