AHLAKİ AKIL, AHLAKİ DUYGULAR VE ÖZGECİLİĞİN GERÇEKLETİRİLMESİ: NAGEL, ZHANG ZAİ VE WANG FUZHİ ARASINDA KARŞILAŞTIRILMALI ÇALIŞMA
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This paper begins with Thomas Nagel’s investigation of the possibility of altruism. Altruism, by Nagel’s definition, is “merely a willingness to act in consideration of the interests of other persons, without the need of ulterior motives.” The fundamental question Nagel investigates is: how is altruism possible? The reason why we need to investigate the possibility of altruism is exactly that an altruistic act is not readily exercised; it requires some effort on the part of the agent. Nagel discusses various cases of “motivational interference,” such as weakness of the will, cowardice, laziness, panic, etc. (Nagel: 66). In addition, we can also imagine that attitudes such as procrastination, apathy, inconsistency, and consideration for one’s future self all pose an obstacle to the causal efficacy of altruistic motivation. Therefore, a successful motivational theory of altruism must explain how altruism is possible under all these motivational interferences.