The Act of Altruism vs. Psychological Egoism
The seemingly altruistic act by the firefighters and police officers who gallantly walked into the burning World Trade Centre was not an altruistic act, it was instead an act of psychological egoism. Psychological egoism is the assumption that our actions as human beings are motivated by what we view as our personal interests. On the other hand, ethical egoism holds that we should always pursue our own interests because we are not obliged to promote the interests of others. What this means is that ethical egoism is a prescriptive theory that advice humans on how they should act and react to various situations. At times, it is equated with selfishness which might not be true because at times it is in our own self-interest to help others. Psychological egoism, on the other hand, is a descriptive theory that describes facts about the nature of humans.
State Officials and their Motivations
It may appear as if the firefighters and police officers who responded to the terrorist attack on 9th September 2011 were truly altruistic. However, this is far from the truth, these state officials were psychological egoists. As State officials and mostly firefighters and police officers, it is their obligation to rush to such scenes and save as many lives as possible. Nevertheless, this motivation does not come from within. They are more or less bound by the law because failure to respond to such an emergency would lead to severe disciplinary action. It is true that when these officers take the oath of office, they swear that they will put their lives on the line to protect the lives and properties of American citizens.
Motivations of Self-Interest
However, such actions are not out of love for the country or for the American population. It is simply because they have taken an oath of allegiance which requires them to put their lives on the line to protect the lives of others. The same means that these officers and firefighters went into the burning building to avoid condemnation by their superiors. An officer with bills to pay and probably school fees would not dare to step back as his/her colleagues went into the burning building to look for survivors because they would definitely lose their job. As such, it shows that the officers were looking out for their own good when they went into the building and it is not that they were truly altruistic. If it was truly an altruistic act, then there would have been more than three hundred dead officers since even those who were not on leave that day would have rushed to go and help their colleagues. However, most chose to watch in shock from the comfort of their homes dreading to be recalled back to work.
Desire for Recognition
Additionally, it is a human trait to want to be recognized and praised for good deeds. The thoughts running through the minds of some officers was that they would appear on the front cover of the newspaper the following day as the heroes who saved the day. They did not expect that there would be a second blast so they went in as fast as they could without first setting up an extraction plan in case things got ugly. Most of these officers were driven by the urge to be recognized as the force that saved hundreds of American lives. Instead, they all died in the rubble. Conclusively, it indicates that the actions of the officers and firefighters were not altruistic, rather they were guided by personal interests.
