What Is Selfishness?

Selfishness is the idea that what matters most is the satisfaction of personal needs and pleasures. The egoist thinks that his being is limited only by the contours of his body, he does not see that his existence is somehow interconnected with the rest of the world. He denies the aspirations of others, the only reality is him. This neglect of the world around him causes a thousand ills. The first of these is the alienation of others, i.e. the fact of making them objects. Since he cannot see what links him to others, the egoist has a utilitarian relationship with the world. For him, others serve only to achieve the satisfaction of his pleasures or interests. He does not feel others. He is blinded by an obsession with himself, blinded by his desires. Because of this inability to put himself in the place of those around him, the egoist causes countless harms.

We are all selfish to varying degrees, and it is good to recognize this so that we do not behave more selfishly. We learn to stop being selfish when we see the benefits and rewards of living differently. First of all, giving up the worship of our ego gives us some relief. When we reduce our vain desires, we can connect more with the world. We can grasp its nuances and appreciate its depth. Better yet, we can enjoy having contributed to the joys and happiness of others – which is a bit selfish in itself. Our relationship with the outside world changes because we have been able to modify our relationship with ourselves. We become aware that our existence is not narrow, stunted, reduced to our only person, but that on the contrary we form part of a whole in which our true essence only asks to be melted