Enlightened Self-interest

A detailed Summary of Enlightened Self-interest


What are the roles of the Citizen in American Democracy? If one were to ask this question of Alexis de Tocqueville, he would have had quite a lot to say about it. Alexis de Tocqueville was a French aristocrat who lived from 1805 to 1859. In 1831, he came to the U.S. for nine months to observe revisions of the prison system, but he ended up seeing so much more. He ended up writing two books- volumes I and II of Democracy in America (unc). This work deals with the legislative and administrative systems in the U.S., and with the influence of social and political institutions on the habits and manners of people (F & W's).

One of Tocqueville's main focuses was on the concept of "enlightened self-interest". But what is self-interest? For eons, we have heard that it is not good to be selfish and that one should strive to be unselfish. Yet the very concept of being unselfish, of acting without self interest is an utter impossibility in the light of the fact that everyone of us will only do that which we believe to contribute the most to our perception of well being or happiness or that which keeps us furthe


So, the big question is, does enlightened self-interest really produce good citizens? My answer is yes. According to Tocqueville, it is impossible not to be selfish in one way or another, so why not use the naturally occurring selfishness for a good cause. One with enlightened self-interest uses his selfishness for a later gain, but in the process, he helps others. In my opinion, that's better than using natural selfishness to gain nothing and help nobody in the end.

Every single person without exception is acting based upon what serves their perceived perception of their highest self-interest. Although it is impossible to act without self-interest, there is, however, a huge difference in the quality of self-interest. For example, an opium addict thinks that acquiring opium is the only means of happiness, so he will do whatever it takes to obtain it, no matter whom it hurts in the process. Therefore, the addict has a very low form of self-interest. The saint, on the other hand, may perceive that pleasing and serving God serves his best interest and doing that which contributes to his highest self-interest makes the saint happy and so

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Approximate Word count = 771
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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