About the article
E.A. Evstifeeva
This article examines the problem of altruism from the perspective of the voice of the Other. The central role of the Other points to human nature and the conditions of human society and consists in the constitution of social interaction. Only the context of the Other relevant to altruism is considered. It is demonstrated that the ontological status of altruism is contextually determined by the semantics of the Other. The article examines the Aristotelian paradigm of the Other, in which the Other is conceived through the prism of justice as a virtue and as a friend, which points to the foundation of human coexistence. The article interprets the good of the Other based on its objective and subjective elements. Reference is made to the author’s previous articles devoted to the issue of quality of life as measured by health indicators, in which the concept of “quality of life” serves as a marker of human well-being or prosperity. It takes into account the intersection and proportionality of the objective and subjective components of human well-being. Well-being is a sense of “satisfaction” with one’s health, which reflects individual expectations, value- and meaning-based orientations, and behavioral predispositions. An interpretation of altruism is presented from the perspective of an evolutionary-genetic analysis conducted by the distinguished Russian geneticist V.P. Efroimson, which spurred the study of altruistic attitudes in psychology. Drawing on the theory of natural selection, the geneticist demonstrates the natural origin of the benevolent inclination in humans in contrast to the theory of natural egoism. The relevance of the issue of altruism in contrast to egoism—interpreted as evil—is driven today by radical geopolitical changes in the world, the high risks of nuclear war, and the social selection of the global and European elite, motivated by absolute egoism.
the voice of the Other, altruism, egoism, good, evil, the Other as justice and a friend, the good of the Other, objective and subjective elements of the good, evolutionary-genetic analysis of altruism.