So, while in class we seem to have isolated the idea that Selfishness is Self-Interest taken to harmful (to others, or even the self) levels, I wonder on how the selfish actions of one character could potentially be viewed as positive for a larger group. One possibility is with the idea of capitalism, where selfishness would be considered a positive trait (doing everything you can to become the richest person, no limits), however, there is also the idea of having one person, motivated purely by selfishness, who does something that results in good for the rest of the population. I'm not sure how it could come about, but would it count as a "good" action, without being altruistic?
Also, on the ideas of Selfishness and Self-Interest, there is some study of the difference in the trading card game Magic: the Gathering. In Magic, there are five colors of magic, White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green (arranged clockwise in that order as a circle), each color with it's own positive and negative attributes. In the case of Selfishness, this is a core value of Black, however Black is also capable of just as much good or evil as all the other colors (White, for example is all about protection and order. At it's worst, it creates a xenophobic, totalitarian police-state), supplying the idea of self-interest being positive, but not necessarily being nice about it. In comparison, Red, which has Freedom as a core value, is very self-interested in everyone it considers a friend, or anyone who is under oppressive rule, and would cause a revolution against a tyrant simply because one person is being oppressed. In this case, we have someone who causes the removal of a tyrant (good and potentially altruistic action) but who did not do it for the sake of creating a better government, but for the sake of preventing one person from living under a hardship. Would that be considered altruistic, and if so, on what scale?
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