Search results for "Truism"

Altruisme et modèle métaphorique

1993

This article addresses the relationship between economics and biology from the specific methodological perspective of concept transfers. To understand in what way biological theories may prove useful for the study of economic problems, we define, with reference to the work of some philosophers of science, a methodological tool which we call the "metaphorical model". This instrument is then used to elucidate some aspects of Becker's model on altruism as well as the reasons why his analysis has not been considered in the end to be fully convincing or relevant.

Altruism in business – an empirical study of philanthropy in the small business context

2012

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine corporate philanthropy from the perspective of small business owner‐managers to find out whether there is room for altruism in business life.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on 25 thematic interviews with small business owner‐managers. The data analysis is based on a method of qualitative content analysis.FindingsBased on the analysis, it is shown that reactivity, an emphasis on personal interests, the willingness to utilize philanthropy as part of marketing and lack of planning are typical of philanthropy in the small business context. Small businesses often emphasize strategic business reasons as the main motive for their philan…

Fostering Positive Changes in Health and Social Relationships in Children

2017

Several studies have demonstrated that altruism and gratitude may confer beneficial effects on psychophysical wellbeing. The present chapter describes how positive changes in health and social relationships can be fostered in 6- to 9-year-old children when participating in positive interventions. The findings show that the experience of working with others to attain shared goals and focusing on gratefulness positively modulated altruism and social interactions among peers, highlighting the great behavioural plasticity of children. Moreover, interventions involving cooperative playing not only increased positive relationships but also contributed to a decrease in chronic stress levels. The p…

Unethical Brotherly Love: Zell Kravinsky and Maximum Human Utility

2014

The case of American investor and philanthropist Zell Kravinsky (1956-) presents numerous ethical challenges regarding our social responsibility to others. In 2003, after disbursing the bulk of his forty-five-million-dollar fortune to various charities, Kravinsky made the decision to donate one of his kidneys to an impoverished African-American woman he had met only once. In doing so he courageously saved a life, but also incurred the wrath of his family, friends, and many observers in the media who questioned his sanity. To Kravinsky, however, refusal to donate would have been tantamount to murder, constituting a violation of his belief in ‘maximum human utility’ – a concept that insists o…

Il comportamento altruistico tra scienze sociali e vita quotidiana

2011

"Auttaminen on molemminpuolinen ilo!" : avustaviin perheenjäseniin perustuva auttaminen suomalaisissa perheyrityksissä auttajan näkökulmasta tarkaste…

2013

New insights on the role of ecology and life-history in social evolution

2017

Biological altruism, defined as a behaviour that benefits others at an apparent cost to the focal individual, is found abundantly across different levels of biological organization. While kin selection has been useful for explaining both cooperation and conflict in specialized cooperative societies, more theoretical work has to be done to develop models for realistic ecological and life-history contexts. This thesis aims to fill this gap by providing several new insights on the role of ecology and life-history in various social systems. Firstly, I propose a model that incorporates realistic ecological mechanisms of population regulation and study how different population regulation mechanisms affe…

Assortment, but not knowledge of assortment, affects cooperation and individual success in human groups

2017

The success or failure of human collective action often depends on the cooperation tendencies of individuals in groups, and on the information that individuals have about each other's cooperativeness. However, it is unclear whether these two factors have an interactive effect on cooperation dynamics. Using a decision-making experiment, we confirm that groups comprising individuals with higher cooperation tendencies cooperate at a higher level than groups comprising individuals with low cooperation tendencies. Moreover, assorting individuals with similar cooperation tendency together affected behaviour so that the most cooperative individuals tended to cooperate more and the least cooperativ…

Descartes: Ethics and Politics

2017

Este artículo analiza la moral y la filosofía política cartesiana. Defiende que la posición de Descartes en estos ámbitos es congruente con sus concepciones metafísicas y físicas. Una posición que busca un difícil equilibrio entre individualismo y altruismo, vida retirada y compromiso social. This paper analyses Cartesian ethics and politics. It defends that Descartes's position in these areas coincides with his metaphysical and physical conceptions, searching a difficult equilibrium between individualism and altruism, quiet life and social commitment.

El sector no lucrativo desde el enfoque de la elección pública: Cuando la oferta no lucrativa de bienes públicos es el resultado de decisiones emanad…

2001

The voluntary supply of collective goods by nonprofit institutions has deserved little attention in the Public Choice literature, and the clasical nonprofits approach does not consider nonprofits supply as a collective decision, although individuals, either as consumers or as donors, are in the center of their theoretical constructs. In this paper we hypothesize that voluntary nonprofits' provision is a collective choice. We present a model in which the members of a community, both those who fund the nonprofits and those who do not (free riders) vote, so choosing between a political program of governmental supply and a political program of non governmental supply. Afterward, they must also …