When we 鈥榙o good,鈥� is it for ourselves or others?
When we 鈥渄o good,鈥� is it for ourselves or for others? Etymologically, it can be both, our language columnist writes.
When we 鈥渄o good,鈥� is it for ourselves or for others? Etymologically, it can be both, our language columnist writes.
鈥淓ffective altruism鈥� has been in the news, as Sam Bankman-Fried ostensibly founded his cryptocurrency firm FTX (now collapsed) to put its principles into practice. Let鈥檚 look at altruism and other words in its lexical field, to see what etymology can say about how we think about doing good.聽
The word altruism was coined around 1830 by French philosopher August Comte, as the opposite of egoism. The root of egoism is the Latin first person singular pronoun ego 鈥� 鈥淚鈥� 鈥� fitting for a philosophy that makes self-interest 鈥渢he supreme guiding principle of action,鈥� as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it. Comte identified 鈥渢he great human problem鈥� as 鈥渢each[ing] ourselves to live for others.鈥� He named this desirable state altruism, from autrui, a French word meaning 鈥渢o or for the others鈥� (which in turn comes from alter, 鈥渙ther鈥� in Latin). 聽
Several related words also put the emphasis on others. Philanthropy comes from the Greek 辫丑颈濒-听(loving) + 补苍迟丑谤艒辫辞蝉 (humankind) 鈥� etymologically, a philanthropist loves people, and makes an 鈥渁ctive effort to promote human welfare,鈥� often through charitable donations, according to Merriam-Webster. (This sense of philanthropy appeared in English in the 17th century. Old English had earlier borrowed philanthropos, but as a botanical term for goosegrass and agrimony, whose burrs 鈥渓ove mankind鈥� so much that they stick to clothing and are hard to remove.) Humanity is the root of the 19th-century word humanitarianism.
Other words in this lexical field, though, have etymologies that stress more selfish instincts, along the lines of egoism. Kindness, for example, is related to kin 鈥� both derive from *kunja, the Proto-Germanic word for 鈥渇amily.鈥� Etymologically, then, kindness is what you feel for your relatives, to whom you have an obligation. By the 1300s, though, the idea of 鈥渒indness鈥� had expanded beyond kinship, and even strangers could be the focus of its compassion and sympathy. 聽
Eleemosynary is an infrequently encountered word that means 鈥渙f, relating to, or supported by charity鈥� 鈥� Bill Gates, for example, has 鈥渁n outsized eleemosynary influence here in the United States and overseas,鈥� according to an article in Nonprofit Quarterly. The word is related to the better-known alms, 鈥渟omething (such as money or food) given freely to relieve the poor.鈥� Scholars debate how these two words originated, but one theory holds that they derive from a naked declaration of self-interest, the ancient Greek 别濒别濒别没: 鈥淲oe is me! Alas!鈥� From a personal call for help, these two words came to be applied to helping others. 聽 聽
When we 鈥渄o good,鈥� is it for ourselves or for others? Etymologically, it can be both.