To think the only truly altruistic act a person can do

[Normalisavariantofcrazy]

Is to donate organs after death because there is no gain for you as an individual

Been discussing it with DH and he says I'm wrong but can't find an argument why I'm wrong

Happy to be told IABU on this!

[tulipsaredelicious]

I don't think any act can be truly altruistic. Someone I know wants to donate their body to science but part of his thinking is that it's the only useful thing to do - so in the end he's making that choice because he prefers to.

If you give knowingly give your life for someone else, isn't part of your thinking bound up with how you would feel afterwards? - that you let someone die for you?

You catch my drift...

[bookishandblondish]

Richard Titmuss wrote a book about this - the gift of blood ( I think it was late 80s where he compared UK/ US policies - the US has changed theirs since. But his premise was along the lines of giving blood is truly altruistic because the donor never wants to get it back.

[bookishandblondish]

Actually he wrote it in 1970.