Wednesday, April 07, 2004

Suppose a person performs a selfish act - purely selfish, not one thought for its effects on others - but as an unintended consequence this act has a positive effect on others. Is it still considered selfish act?

Does it make a difference if the act had foreseeable positive consequences (like calling the fire department solely to get your own ass saved from a burning building, but as an unintended consequence other people got rescued too?) or if the act had forseeable negative consequences but serendipitiously had positive consequences instead (like rudely pushing someone because they were in your way, and you happen to push them out of the path of a falling safe*)?

*As an aside, I wonder if a safe has actually fallen ever in human history, or if that's just a cartoon construct?

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