The heart of altruism: perceptions of a common humanity

312 Pages·1996·1.39 MB·English

by  Kristen Renwick Monroe

The Heart of Altruism

The Heart of Altruism
PERCEPTIONS OF A COMMON HUMANITY
Kristen Renwick Monroe
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright1996byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,
Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,
Chichester,WestSussex
AllRightsReserved.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Monroe,KristenR.,1946–
Theheartofaltruism:perceptionsof
acommonhumanity/KristenRenwickMonroe.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-691-04355-8(alk.paper)
1.Altruism.I.Title.
BJ1474.M74 1996
171′.8—dc20 95-39585
CIP
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinBerkeleyBook
PrincetonUniversityPressbooksareprintedon
acid-freepaperandmeettheguidelinesforpermanence
anddurabilityoftheCommitteeonProductionGuidelinesfor
BookLongevityoftheCouncilonLibraryResources
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
byPrincetonAcademicPress
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my beloved family
Chloe, Nicholas, Alexander,
Wil, and Trudi

Contents
TheHumanFaceofAltruism ix
Acknowledgments xvii
PART I: The Importance of Altruism
Introduction 3
CHAPTER1
ThePuzzleofAltruism 6
PART II: Narratives: From Self-Interest to Altruism
CHAPTER2
TheEntrepreneur 27
CHAPTER3
ThePhilanthropist 41
CHAPTER4
TheHeroine 63
CHAPTER5
RescuersofJewsinNaziEurope 91
PART III: Traditional Explanations for Altruism
CHAPTER6
Sociocultural AttributesofAltruism 121
CHAPTER7
Economic ApproachestoAltruism 137
CHAPTER8
Explanations fromEvolutionaryBiology 161
CHAPTER9
PsychologicalDiscussionsofAltruism 179
PART IV: The Altruistic Perspective
CHAPTER10
TheAltruisticPerspective: Perceptions ofaSharedHumanity 197
viii · Contents
CHAPTER11
Perspective andEthical PoliticalActs:InitialThoughts 217
Conclusion 233
Notes 239
Bibliography 271
Index 285
The Human Face of Altruism
ILIKEDOttoSpringer.Ilikedhimimmediately.
I had been given Otto’s name as someone I should contact about his war-
time experiences. Otto was an ethnic German who lived in Prague during
World War II. As such, he was entitled, under Nazi law, to privileged status
and special favors. Otto relinquished these benefits by serving as the Aryan
head of a Jewish firm, working in the Austrian underground, officially and
openly marrying (and thereby protecting) a Jewish woman, pulling Jews off
transports for concentration camps, forging documents, and bribing numer-
ous Gestapo officials and concentration camp guards. His efforts cost Otto
his German citizenship and, when he was finally arrested and sent to a con-
centration camp himself, his freedom. Even then, however, Otto continued
hisactivitiesonbehalfofothers,savingoveronehundredJewsfromimprison-
mentanddeath.
IwrotetoOttoathishomeinSanAnselmo,California,askingifhewould
be willing to speak with mein connection withmy workon altruism. Isoon
received a short, handwritten note, informingmethat hewouldbedelighted
totalkandaddingthatmanythingsneededtobetoldabouttheNaziera.He
gavemeaphonenumberandinvitedmetocontact himatmyconvenience.
When I called Otto, I was immediately struck by the forcefulness in his
voice.Therewasabuoyancyandspiritthatreachedacrossthephonelines,a
Germanic precision,evenaslightformality,tohisanswers.
“IsthisOttoSpringer?”
“Correct!” Otto would boom out, rather than employing a weaker form of
affirmation. I felt the presence of the man behind the voice. And I liked him
immediately.
When we met, Otto readily acknowledged that he had saved many Jewish
lives; but he insisted that the valueof his acts wasoverestimated, that others
haddonemuchmore.Heevensuggestedthatwhathehaddonewasnotreally
altruistic.
Idon’tknowwhetherI’dconsiderwhatIdidaltruistic.Now,ifyouwantan
example of altruism, I know an absolutely clear case. A friend of mine. A
very, very intelligent gentleman. He was a bachelor. He was German him-
self.ButwhentheGermanstookover,hewassomadaboutwhattheNazis
were doing that he said, “NowIam Czech.” And he didn’t register asGer-
manatall.
Now, you may remember that for the Czechs, the Nuremberg laws
came much later. The Nuremberg laws, these were the laws that made it a
x · TheHumanFaceofAltruism
crimeagainsttheracetomarryaJew.Butatthebeginningofthewar,ifyou
wereaCzech Aryan,itmightbeaprotection foraJewifyouweremarried
toher.MyfriendKariknewthisandsaid,“WhereisaJewthatIcanmarry?”
Andthere wasone.ShehadfledPragueandlost,inVienna, already her
husband.Shewasleftalonewithtwodaughters.SheandKarididn’tknow
each other. It was very funny, because when we introduced them, you
knowhowitisinGerman,youuse“thou”whenyougetintimate. Youcall
each other “thou” instead of “you.” Usually it happens that when you are
alone,youcalleachotherbythemoreintimate formthanwhenyouarein
company. But with them, it was just the opposite. In company, they used
theintimate formofaddress;butwhentheywerealone,theywereformal.
Now,Isaythatthismanwasatruealtruist.Why?Notjustbecauseitwas
his idea to marry her. It is true that this marriage was motivated only be-
cause Kariknew atthattime thatthismarriagewouldstillgiveherprotec-
tion.Butitwasmorethanthat.Letmetellyou.
For a while Mrs. Kari wassafe. But then the Gestapo came and arrested
Kari’snewwife,duetoastupidmix-upofnames.Theycameatatimewhen
one daughter wasathome, sotheygrabbedhertoo.Thesecond daughter,
the ten-year-old child, was with friends [that day]. Kari took the little girl
whoremainedwithhimandhidherinthecountrysomewhere.Mrs.Kari—
KariMayerwashisname—Mrs.MayerwassentalreadytoAuschwitzwith
herolderdaughter.
Now,sometime after this, everyonemarried toa Jewgetsa summons to
get divorced from theirJewishwives.Ifyourefuse, yougotoprison,since
such a marriage is now a crime against the race. People told Kari, “Look.
You don’t help your wife at all because she is already in Auschwitz. Toget
adivorceisjustasignatureforyou.Sowhydon’tyoudoit?It’sridiculous.
You help nobody. And, of course, if you refuse, you risk being arrested
yourself.”
ButKarisaid,“No.Germansaresticklers.Sticklerswithallkindsofpro-
cedures and rules and forms.” He said, “When I get a divorce, they could
lookupthe filesandcouldfindthattheyhadarrestedonlyonechild.And
then they could figure that the other one must be somewhere. If there is
only a small risk that they will find this child, it is my duty to go on to
whateverendresults.”
He went to the concentration camp even though his wife had already
been arrested, just in order to avoid the slight possibility that the child
wouldbediscovered.Thatisaclearcaseofaltruism.
Howdo weexplain people likeKari?People likeOtto?AsIcame toknow
himwell, I realized Ottosimplydidnotfitintoanyofthe easycategories we
social scientists like to employ to explain away actions by which individuals
risktheirownwelfare,perhapseventheirlives,tohelpothers.