In my research I come across the words altruism and philanthropy quite a bit. Until recently I hadn't given much thought to these words, assuming they were essentially perfect substitutes. Not that this post is particularly eye-opening or profound, but upon looking the terms up it becomes pretty apparent that altruism, or altruistic behavior is a stronger proposition than philanthropic behavior.
altruism - unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.
philanthropy - goodwill to fellowmen ; especially : active effort to promote human welfare.
In other words, while both are concerned with welfare, one can act in a philanthropic manner as motivated through selfishness, whereas altruism inherently precludes such behavior. Just something to think about the next time you hear someone being lauded as a philanthropist. Money is good, but motives are important...
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3 comments:
Good point. You might be interested in my take on why people give to charity that appeared last year in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Thanks, this was helpful!
Yes, helpful indeed.
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