Arguments Against Altruism

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Altruism, acting with an unselfish regard for others, is a widely debated topic. When it comes to the notion of altruism, the underlining question that serves a purpose in identifying the source of this concept is: “why?”. Why does a person act in a way that is altruistic? There are an abundance of explanations for this abstraction, leaving numerous proposals and beliefs open for interpretation. When it comes to the rescuers of the Holocaust in Italy, for example, there are several factors that were tied into their selfless nature. Yet, the exact factors for why these rescuers acted in the ways that they did, for the most part, are unknown. Despite the unknowingness of the origin, there are a range of clarifications that may explain, and more importantly, answer the question: “why?”.
Gino Bartali was a famous Italian cyclist, hailed as the “King of Cycling”. He was regarded as a legend not only for cycling, but for the courageous acts that he depicted during the Holocaust. After responding to the Catholic Cardinal of Florence, a close friend, Bartali began to …show more content…
He housed many different Jewish families as his “patients”, while also providing his wards with counterfeit identity cards and ration tickets. Unbeknownst to him the individuality of any of the Jewish in which he accommodated, he nonetheless risked his life and the life of his family without hesitation to save them. When it comes to the reasoning behind Angela’s motivations for giving his assistance to the Jewish in their hardship, clear intentions are unknown. Several presume that he “was an ardent opponent of the Fascist regime”, meaning he was simply against Adolf Hitler from the very beginning (3). Others may argue that it was a matter of opportunity, considering he possessed adequate means to house the Jewish, based on having facilitated rescue, which included his place of work

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