Altruism can be weaponized purely to offend a third party

Evidence

The alleviation of personal need is emotionally so categorical an end-in-itself, that to deprive it of this ultimate purpose and to convert it into a mere technique for the transsubjective ends of a social unit constitutes a significant triumph for the latter. This distantiation between the individual and the social unit—despite its lack of visibility—is more fundamental and radical in its abstractness and coldness than sacrifices of the individual for the collectivity in which the means and the ends tend to be bound together by a chain of sentiments. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 413 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Instrumentalizing charity alienates individuals more radically than explicit communal sacrifice does — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 413; Fairness evolved as a costly signal of impartiality to avoid third-party condemnation. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 574; Rationality itself can be weaponized against the rational agent — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 366 (+2 more)

Related

• Instrumentalizing charity alienates individuals more radically than explicit communal sacrifice does (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Instrumentalizing charity alienates individuals more radically than explicit communal sacrifice does #expands (0.82) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 413