Cool topic, to tell you the truth this is the first time I gave any thought to it. These is what I came up with after some two hours of musing:
My definition of charity
- A charitable act is an act that gives something of oneself in an attempt to improve the life of another/others.
- If the act itself fails then it is not charity, as one did not actually give anything.
- If the act succeeded yet has no positive results then it would still be charitable for one did give something of one self.
- Also, if one gives something and then expects something in return, be it praise, avoidance of harm, or any other thing that originates externally, then the act is not charitable.
Thinking about my own acts of charity brought me to a rather unwelcome conclusion: It seems that nothing we do is a truly self-less act. Using myself as an example, everything I do seems to have a selfish under layer. I give to my friends because I want to keep my friends. I give to my parents because I feel I own them a debt. I give to people around me in hope that they will be give back. I give to my lover to be loved back. Even when I do a spontaneous nice act, like throw a coin to a homeless person, I am still doing it for gain. Because right afterwards I am patting myself on the back. There also seems to be a very subtle sensation of showing off my charity in front of others. So I did a throw a coin to be charitable, or did I do it to feel better about myself or even make other people feel good about me?
I believe that tossing a coin could be a charitable act as long as one doesn’t expect any sort of social approval from the act. The feeling of pride does not make the act any less charitable. Since the pride comes from within, it would not qualify as being something external and therefore one is giving no less and receiving nothing back from any one else.
As some might notice, the closer a bond between the giver and the receiver of charity the less charitable the act becomes. The more complex a relationship gets, the more pressure there is on the individuals to be as hospitable as possible because we have allot more to lose if a tight relationship ends. Considering we have no control over this phenomenon, it is not that we are becoming more selfish as a relationship grows but rather our options become rather limited to a point where we almost have no choice but to be charitable.
Consequently since our choice is limited with people close to us an act of charity towards strangers would hold more value then an act of charity towards some one close. We counter balance this is by offering more to people closer to us. For example, if we give five dollars to a random stranger on the street would prompt a more enthusiastic reply then giving five dollars to a close friend.
I’ll leave it at that, critique away
