Houchin

I have to admit that I have not finished the essay. It's 11: 45 on Sunday night and I'm being that terrible last minute student that needs to finish his fourth blog post to get credit for the week. I apologize. I have read through page 16 and I've found some stuff I really like. James Rachels' idea that "it is the object of a want that determines whether it is selfish or not" (15), does a good job at refuting the claim that every action is a selfish one (13-14). I  believe that this is a very useful argument in our earlier discussions of volunteer work. In the first week, I think, we brought up this topic and talked about whether or not volunteer work is altruistic. Now, we can use this and say that if somebody takes part in volunteer work on their own free will, it is indeed altruistic. If they are doing it because their mom says they have to do it so they can put it on their college application, it is selfish. This is because the action only has the good of the doer in mind, it does not pertain to who is getting helped. The person is only volunteering so an adviser can sign off on their NHS slip and be done for the month until March. This is where I am of the opinion that Kirk Monfort is altruistic. I do agree that he "appears exceptional and altruistic because so many around him have much more restricted views of their home and community" (12), but that does not change the fact that he himself still is an altruist. Although he may be having an effect on the greater population of Chico, isn't that what elected officials are supposed to do? He is simply doing his job, and in my view, doing it well. He is using his power and influence to better the city, which obviously does benefit him, but benefits everyone else around him. I am interested to see where the rest of this article goes because right now I am pretty set on the idea of Kirk being an altruist. 11:57, crap!