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From: dr_who@umcp-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: selfish/altruistic motives
Message-ID: <2156@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 25-Aug-83 16:57:29 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.2156
Posted: Thu Aug 25 16:57:29 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 26-Aug-83 09:34:36 EDT
Organization: Univ. of Maryland, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 13

Gary Samuelson's article (bunkerb.226) is mostly correct, although I do not
think that the issue is very central (Tom probably does, though).  The only
correction I would make is that we DO have a way of determining what other
people's motives are -- ask them.  This method is not guaranteed, but then
few methods of finding the fact of ANY matter are GUARANTEED to work.

When you ask people, most of them will say that their purposes are partly
self-benefit and partly others' benefit.  Since this corresponds to their
actions, and since we frequently have no reason to suspect that they are
being dishonest or are deceiving themselves, I think we have good reason to
believe that their statements are true.

--Paull Torek, U of MD College Park