If a good deed benefits the doer as much as the recipient is it still just as valuable?

Question

why do we view altruistic behavior in a whole other category? is the ceo who employs hundreds or thousands for profit not of equal humanitarian value as the farmer who hires a hobo out of the kindness of his heart?

Answer 1

People are a suspicious breed - and as such, we are suspect of anyone who does something 'out of the kindness of their heart'.  Sad, isn't it?

I believe the deed must stand on its own to be 'judged'...ignore the doer or their intent, just evaluate the deed itself, and the good that it brought.  

Answer 2

true altruism is acting completely selflessly, so the ceo, having business motives, would not be altruistic in that sense.  The farmer is also gaining from hiring the hobo.  But,  is any act truly selfless?  Keep trying to figure these things out.

Answer 3

It is still a good deed. The way you're interpreting it is in a moral sense, which is a whole different story. A good deed is anything that benefits parties (it's subjective to human opinion of whether it's good or bad, depending if it profits them). So as long as it profits both, then it's a good deed by acceptable definition.  

Answer 4

Depends on the intent behind the good deed.  That is all.

Answer 5

"Benefits the doer as much as the recipient" means both parties benefit equally which immediately leaves out the ceo and the rest of the stock holders of a company since their earnings are way higher than those of their employees.

Business is not done for the benefit of mankind, it is done, as you say, "for profit". You can say it's not a bad deed, but you can't say it belongs to the same category as the ones we call altruistic. Motive is definitely the clue. Otherwise a pimp could also claim he's doing a good deed.

Good question.

Answer 6

Yes. I think we should not waste time on comparison of good deeds of others, but go out and do as much as we possibly can to help the world become a better place for future generations. And as long as we are busy helping others, we won't worry for their motives along with our own for long...