Read Objective, Not Subjective

Primarily Qualitative Peer Reviewed Studies:
Recommended Articles

In evolutionary psychology one can find hosts of information and studies regarding the potential origins of altruism. In “Who’s Afraid of the Naturalistic Fallacy?” (Curry, 2006), the author seeks to defend Humean ethical naturalism by demonstrating that popular naturalistic fallacies do not present obstacles to the theory. Hume argued that all our actions flow naturally from our emotions with no consideration of reason. Our actions are naturally habitual. The study presents comprehensive analyses of eight alleged fallacies which plague Humean theory. Why is Humean theory relevant to a myth of religious altruistic motives? - or more importantly, how is it applicable to altruism at all?

The study provides an important, easily readable, and concise basis of the philosophical arguments behind human nature and morality based action of which any discourse on altruism revolves around. Who determines what's good?

Nevertheless, a quick glance at the title and abstract of the article will tell you that the focus of the study is not precisely focused on the myth at hand. This presents me with a difficult decision to make; the author remained objective throughout his study, his comparisons were fair and analyses informative, but the integrity of a reliable article also partly rests on its comprehensiveness. The study admittedly focuses on a limited pool of ethical theories and for that I deem it certainly readable, but necessitating accompaniment. Still, and to be clear, this is one that I recommend reading.

Obviously, recognizing one's motives proves entirely crucial in determining the authenticity of an individual's supposed altruistic action. In “Hand of God, Mind of Man: Punishment and Cognition in the Evolution of Cooperation” (Bering, 2006), Bering rules that, by evolutionary process, the net costs on a historical human society brought about by selfish actions of its subjects exceeded the net costs of self-imposed societal compliance and thus god-fearing subjects were more likely to out-compete (evolutionarily) non-believers. The studies insight into the intricate and complex psychology revealing precise motives (potentially hidden or unapparent even to the individual) behind altruistic behavior prepares one to more confidently approach and bear in mind the thousands of years of evolutionary history preceding today's notion of altruism. The authors remain unbiased regarding predisposed religiously affiliated critique. I strongly recommend this article.

Non-recommended Articles

“Why Altruism is Impossible...and Ubiquitous” (Schwartz, 1993), I admit, was a fascinating read, but I stand by my admonition; a study involved in such political vigor whilst determining the existence and form of altruism in contemporary society carries with it the convolutions of political science. I detected influences of utilitarianism - “the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its utility in providing happiness or pleasure as summed among all sentient beings” (Wikipedia, 2010) - in much of Schwartz personal viewpoints, for example. This is not sufficient reason to discredit his work but, then again, he never conducted any studies either. The entire article is an analytical examination of theory. Alas, being in the journal of “Social Service Review”, one can expect an abundance of sociopolitical theory and discourse. However, my blog is about the differences between religious altruism and non-religious altruism and thus sociopolitical theory on altruism provides little relevant insight. Rather, I believe it obscures the fundamental motives of an individual's altruistic action.

Primarily Quantitative Peer Reviewed Studies:
Recommended Articles

The research collected in “Altruistic Hypocrisy: Evidence from Protestant Adolescents” (Chang-Ho, 2006) effectively established the most reliable quantitative support against my myth. Moreover, the researchers' findings happened to be the most statistically surprising. I recommend this article because I commend the psychologists for tackling a highly subjective and metaphysical issue with field-research based data, initially entering the study neither to support nor oppose a particular stance but rather acknowledging the lack of consensus on the matter and setting out to gather more information that may help to form one.

“Alter Versus Ego” (Friedrichs, 1960) highlighted fascinating distinctions between egotistical actions influenced by society and genuine altruistic actions driven by “trained renunciation and unquestioned abnegation.” (pg. 497) Researching such a subjective phenomena, the psychologists decide to base their survey measurements on a scale of mean comparison between all participants. This resolves the “possibility of a shift in the overall frame of reference from one rating to the next that appeared to handicap work done” on altruism in previous studies.

Literary Sources:
Non-recommended References

Christopher Hitchens, an author and anti-religious intellectual-crusader, wrote god is not Great with a particularly passionate intention. He provides impressively persuasive arguments in support of his theory, 'religion poisons everything'. But nonetheless - and in a manner just as academically devaluating to The Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser - authors who propose their personal experience as evidence towards academic claims present one with grounds for skepticism. Subjectivity, though not necessarily, nor exclusively, falls prey to reasoning errors. What's true of one's personal occasional experience does not prove it true for others, nor objectively.


Cited Sources

Curry, O. (2006). Who’s Afraid of the Naturalistic Fallacy? Evolutionary Psychology, (4), 234-247
Johnson, D., & Bering, J. (2006). Hand of God, Mind of Man: Punishment and Cognition in the Evolution of Cooperation. Evolutionary Psychology, (4), 219-233.
Ji, C. C., Pendergraft, L., Perry, M. (2006). Religiosity, Altruism, and Altruistic Hypocrisy: Evidence from Protestant Adolescents. Religious Research Association, Inc., 48(2), 156-178.
Friedrichs, R. W. (1960). Alter Versus Ego: An Exploratory Assessment of Altruism. American Sociological Review, (4), 496-508.
Schwartz, B. (1993). Why Altruism Is Impossible...and Ubiquitous. The Social Service Review, (3), 314-343.
Wilson, D. S., Eldakar, O. T., O'Gorman, R., (2006). Emotions and Actions Associated with Altruistic Helping and Punishment. Evolutionary Psychology, (4), 274-286.
Hitchens, C. (2007). god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. New York, NY: Twelve.
Rolheiser, R. (1999). The Holy Longing: The Search For A Christian Spirituality. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Utilitarianism. (2010) In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism

The Religious Pyramid

It hides within us all: the shimmering image of a saintly figure, one of moral perfection, one who lives and breaths and speaks only the most perfect holy purity. Juxtaposed, we imagine the atheist anarchist; he is leather jacket-clad, tattooed, and by no means modestly pierced. He hasn't a care for morality, nor the poor children whimpering away their hunger at the foster home down his street.

Hazarding an assumption here, I blame you not for holding this stereotype. It has been ingrained into your mind since birth, and by no accident either.

This stereotype of disposition - that religious people tend to be more altruistic than other people - festoons a poisonous fallacy that begets a broader, more unfortunate reality. In the daring words of Christopher Hitchens, "religion poisons everything."