Selflessness
Selflessness teaches persons to feel with and for others: empathy, tolerance, and brotherhood. Selflessness is more than feeling empathy for or expressing an emotional willingness to help others. Selflessness is a real action based on perceived need and carries a collective sense of reward for the giver and the receiver. That is, selfless action does not diminish persons; it enhances them and occurs beyond the confines of kin relationships (1994, ). The selfless person understands or feels the needs of the others and acts in ways that serve the best interests of all involved, even though he or she understands the possibility of being personally diminished as a result of an action. Selflessness is a conscious act, one that requires a certain measure of cognitive processing, psychological self-understanding, and emotional maturity. Selflessness occurs through emotional conviction, not because of personal guilt or interpersonal coercion; it also extends beyond an exclusive family context. Selfless persons see the needs of others regardless of their relationship to those in need ( 1994, ). Selfless persons act in the interest of others. People show selflessness in different ways. Even a small deed can be a blessing for both the giver and the receiver. Selflessness is marked unselfish giving.
In ’s “Mammon and the Archer”, selflessness can be seen in Anthony Rockwall’s action. Anthony Rockwall was a retired manufacturer and proprietor of Rockwall’s Eureka Soap. He was an extremely rich man that thought that money can buy everything. His son Richard, a decent and moderate young man. Anthony wanted to help his son so much and is willing to employ any possible means in order to make his son happy. He felt the need of his son and acted to serve his son’s interest. He did not expect to gain anything from helping and did not even tell anyone about it. Selflessness is more than feeling empathy for or expressing an emotional willingness to help others. Selflessness is a real action based on perceived need and carries a collective sense of reward for the giver and the receiver.
The Last Leaf is a story of selflessnes that extends beyond the family context. It is a story of a girl (Johnsy) who was struck by Pnuemonia. She lived with a friend (Sue) in a small studio. Johnsy became sick of pneumonia and she becomes frail and loses hope of recovering. Johnsy was so disheartened that she refuses to fight her way back to health and convinces herself that when the last last leaf falls off the vine, she will die. There are two manifestations of selflessness that are shown in the sory. One is concern for the welfare of others shown by Sue, and the other is acting with less concern for one’s self shown by Mr. Behrman.
When Johnsy became sick with Pnuemonia, Sue was always there to nurse her even if she had works to do. Sue also showed compassion for her friend. She wanted to help her friend because she knew that Johnsy was in distressed and was beginning to lose hope. Sue wants to releive Johnsy’s suffering.
Mr. Behrman is another character in the story that I consider selfless. He saw the need of Johnsy and he was willing to help her. Mr. Behrman sacrificed his life just to help Johnsy. Mr. Behrman became ill after he created his masterpiece – a picture of the last leaf on the brick wall. However, I also think that he did not have to sacrifice his life just to help. I think he was more of altruistic than selfless. Examples of altruism are the acts of heroes and martyrs, for whom the absolute cost of helping is very high, often including loss of life. It is assumed that in such cases the cots of helping must outweigh the rewards, so the helper’s goal could not have been self-benefit. I think that you do not have to sacrifice your life to be selfless. Selflessness should benefit not only the receiver but also the giver. Selflessness according to (1994) does not require unquestioned self sacrifice. Selfless individuals are compassionate to the extent that they enable growth in others. Selflessness is more reciprocal. It entails knowing how to give in order to maximize the growth of another person ().
According to (1994), selflessness takes many different conceptual forms. It often has the appearance of “hard-core altruism.” Hard-core altruism is not calculating or manipulative and is an action performed with no expectation of return benefit. Hard-core altruistic acts are most evident with kin or close relatives. According to him, in the extreme, hard-core altruism is self destructive behaviour that is performed for the benefits of others with no thought for personal circumstances. Hard-core altruism was evident in Mr. Behrman’s action. Sue on the other hand is a selfless person that posseses a measure of extra-centeredness that focuses her giving in a way that enhances her personal capacities for compassion. Compassion is the efective complement of altruism and suggests a willingness to help others because they are suffering or in distress. A compassionate person feels the pain of others and wants to help, to reach out ( 1994, ). Compassion is a deep feeling for and understanding of misery or suffering and the concomitant desire to allevaite it. Mr. Anthony Rockwall’s selflessness entails knowing how to give in order to maximize the growth of another person (his son). Selflessness is a purposeful use of personal power in a way that engenders collective benefit (1994, ).
Selflessness does not deny a person personal satisfaction instead it is the type of informed desire that will enable him or her to embrace more fully the personal richness of life while enhancing the collective interests of the society. Selflessness is a moral sense that is imbued genotypically in all human beings, though its actual manifestation is dictated by each person’s particular social and cultural circumstances. Seflless persons posses a measure of extra-centeredness that focuses their giving in a way that enhances personal capacities for compassion. Sharing is a necessary precursor to the emergence of a disposition toward selflessness. Selflessness happens when a person considers personal feelings and behavior in the broader context of the mutual needs and the social dynamics of the culture. According to (1994), the goal of selflessness is a lifelong one, and the journey of the individual, whether to satisfy personal needs, to achieve some cognitive understnding, or to evolve psychologically, cannot be separated from the context within which one lives ().
True selflessness is the result of a concious, thoughtful decision; it is not based on whim or the possibility of reward. Selfless decision making requires a level of thought and critical reflection that is not possible until full cognitive maturity is achieved.
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