75.        The speaker claims that people are motivated only by fear and self-interest. This
claim relies on the belief that human beings are essentially selfish, or egoistic. In my
view, the speaker oversimplifies human nature, ignoring the important motivating force
of altruism.
      On the one hand, I agree that most of our actions result in large part from self-
interest and from our survival instincts, such as fear. For example, our educational and
vocational lives are to a great extent motivated by our interest in ensuring our own
livelihood, safety, health, and so on. We might perpetuate bad personal relationships
because we are insecure—or afraid—of what will happen to us if we change course.
Even providing for our own children may to some extent be motivated by selfishness—
satisfying a need for fulfillment or easing our fear that we will be alone in our old age.
      On the other hand, to assert that all of our actions are essentially motivated by
self-interest and fear is to overemphasize one aspect of human nature. Humans are also
altruistic—that is, we act to benefit others, even though doing so may not in be in our
own interest. The speaker might claim that altruistic acts are just egoistic ones in
disguise—done to avoid unpleasant feelings of guilt, to give oneself pleasure, or to
obligate another person. However, this counter argument suffers from three critical
problems. First, some examples of altruism are difficult to describe in terms of self-
interest alone. Consider the soldier who falls on a grenade to save his companions. It
would be nonsensical to assert that this soldier is acting selfishly when he knows his
action will certainly result in his own immediate death. Second, the argument offends
our intuition that human motivation is far more complex. Third, it relies on a poor
assumption: just because we feel good about helping others, it does not follow that the
only reason we help is in order to feel good.
      In sum, the speaker oversimplifies human nature. All human motivation cannot be
reduced to fear and self-interest. We can also be motivated by altruism, and the pleasure
we might take in helping others is not necessarily an indication that our actions are
selfish.