There are no altruistic good deeds. All so-called “good deeds” are selfish. It is known as psychological selfishness. Proponents of various ethical and moral theories in our world might argue with such claims. A utilitarian would say that a good action is represented by what is best for everyone; what would create the most general happiness. A deontologist will weigh the pros and cons and decide what their overall moral duty is towards the situation. An egoist would do what is best for himself and morally decide what will serve his best interests. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay But let's go back to the first statements, namely that there are no good deeds. Philosophers, sociologists, doctors and many other high-ranking “officials” will not completely agree with these statements, but according to psychological egoism, they are completely true. When a good deed is complete, even something as simple as holding a door open for someone else, the person who did the deed feels good in their heart, so the deed has now become a selfish good deed. Even a larger scale act, such as donating a large sum of money or even donating an organ to a stranger, ultimately the act made the person feel happy or feel better about their behavior, so, still once, turning the act into a selfish good deed. The strengthened definition of psychological egoism states that “each person has only one ultimate goal: his or her own well-being.” (Shaver) Included in this definition is the fact that individuals will try to help those they care about, because this is also part of their well-being. However, selfishness should not be confused with personal interest. “Actions in self-interest are not necessarily selfish actions. For example, it is in your best interest to obey the law, exercise, and go to college, but no one would argue that it is selfish of you to do so.” (Philosophy) An egoist, however, will not agree with this. If it is in your interest to obey the law or your will will be punished, individuals will follow the law because they do not want to be punished, so they perform selfish acts; by obeying the law and safeguarding yourself, you have now been selfish. All people are selfish, whether they believe it or not. “Psychological selfishness is supported by our frequent observation of selfish behavior.” (Shaver) A utilitarian believes in doing what will benefit the most people with the greatest happiness. The trolley problem is best represented by utilitarianism. In case a tram or train moves on the tracks and you have the chance to press a magic button and save five strangers but sacrifice the life of one stranger; as a utilitarian, you should save the lives of the five strangers. But let's change the scenario a bit and say that you can save the five strangers or save your son; the utilitarian would still save the five strangers. A selfish person would save his own child. To say that saving your child in that scenario is morally wrong is completely absurd. Of course any normal human being would save their child. It is selfish to only care about yourself and those you love instead of caring about strangers in another country, but there is nothing morally wrong with that. We as human beings can feel empathy or sympathy towards a situation (for example starving children in Africa), we can even donate money to help them, but in the end, donating money made us feel better about ourselves and feel than having done something morally right, and once again it becomes selfish. There isn't.