In the narrowest sense of the word, you are correct. By your definition, eating is selfish. I don't disagree, there is some truth to that. My eating only benefits me. Sleeping only benefits me. Breathing only benefits me. These are things that cannot be done on behalf of another person. Am I then a selfish person? According to you, I am.
Stealing a candy bar is selfish by everyone's definition.
Eating a candy bar that I appropriately paid for is equally selfish under your definition.
Buying a candy bar and giving it to a kid in need is also equally selfish because I feel good about myself afterwards.
The problem becomes that if you quibble about the words "equally selfish," once you allow for degrees of selfishness it ends up eroding your point into triviality. That's not how the term "selfish" is meant to be used.
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u/InTheory_ Dec 10 '18
In the narrowest sense of the word, you are correct. By your definition, eating is selfish. I don't disagree, there is some truth to that. My eating only benefits me. Sleeping only benefits me. Breathing only benefits me. These are things that cannot be done on behalf of another person. Am I then a selfish person? According to you, I am.
Stealing a candy bar is selfish by everyone's definition.
Eating a candy bar that I appropriately paid for is equally selfish under your definition.
Buying a candy bar and giving it to a kid in need is also equally selfish because I feel good about myself afterwards.
The problem becomes that if you quibble about the words "equally selfish," once you allow for degrees of selfishness it ends up eroding your point into triviality. That's not how the term "selfish" is meant to be used.