Selvisk, uselvisk, Scheler, Løgstrup

Abstract

It is often thought that the mark of the moral is unselfishness. It is also often said that Jesus preached an ideal of unselfishness so high as to be unfulfillable. The German philosopher Max Scheler disagreed on both counts. The idea that to be moral is to be unselfish is a modern idea, he says. It evolved with the idea that human beings are naturally selfish. Both ideas are wrong: unselfishness is not the essence of goodness, nor are human beings selfish by nature. This article discusses his arguments. It also briefly discusses the ideas of K.E. Løgstrup, who first introduced Scheler’s thought in Denmark. It is argued that Løgstrup’s thinking reflects that of Scheler, except that Løgstrup continued to revere the so-called “ethical demand” beyond what would be warranted in an ethical system like Scheler’s.