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Abstract

In his paper Professor Fitzgerald has attempted to and extend a number of the arguments made in my paper Self-Interest or Altruism: What Difference? (1974). From my perspective his efforts constitute a potentially useful clarification of several of the points. To further that clarification, I would like to comment briefly on his remarks. One of Fitzgerald's major emphases is the observation that altruistic behavior may do nothing whatsoever to narrow the scope of conflict between two parties. In support of this claim he offers two sets of cases in which altruism fails in this respect. One is represented in Figure 2, the other in Figure 3. In the first case he notes that an altruist may get vicarious utility rewards from bearing a burden for another, but that the reward may be lower than the cost of the help rendered. Under those circumstances the rational altruist would choose not to assume any of the other's burden. This is, alas, an all too common empirical phenomenon. I expect that each reader has experienced exactly this kind of situation personally. It is one in which there is a genuine desire to help a friend, to engage in a charitable act, and so forth, but in which the costs of doing so are viewed as prohibitive. Professor Fitzgerald is correct in asserting that in such