from same article
Forum I: On the Ethics of Self in Judaism: Searching for the Middle Ground Between Selflessness and Selfishness.
www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/10735
Altruism -- The Ordinary is Extraordinary
Is there such an ideal as an
"altruistic personality" that emerges, when
called upon, out of the normative personality
because it is in its own way a realization of the self?
If so, what does it teach us about the elements of the ideal self?
A major research project on The Altru*
istic Personality (Oliner & Oliner, 1988)
has been published recently. The book
jacket features the eye-riveting question,
"What Led Ordinary Men and Women ro
Risk Their Lives on Behalf of Others?" This
is obviously intended to be taken as an
unusual act of courage as evidenced by the
subtitle: Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe.
The Oliners interviewed over 700 individ*
uals, both those they classified as rescuers
and as nonrescuers who lived in Nazi occupied Europe during World War II.
Behavior was characterized as altruistic
when "(1) it is directed towards helping
another, (2) it involves a high risk of sacrifice to the actor,
(3) it is accompanied by no external reward, and (4) it is voluntary."
The Oliners attest that "rescue behavior in
the context of the Holocaust meets these
criteria" (Oliner & Oliner, 1988, p. 6).
In the concluding chapter of this fasci*
nating work, the researchers take sharp issue
with the usual reasons given for heroic ac*
tion, which are based on an individualism
rooted in a sense of moral autonomy, or
what might be termed the "Lone Ranger
syndrome."
They challenge the popular
belief that the true hero acts alone, based
on his or her own independent moral rea*
soning. Rather, they offer the view that if
we need to rely or depend upon only the
"few autonomously principled people . . .
then the future is bleak indeed" (Oliner &
Oliner, p. 2.60).
What characterized the rescuers, who
were ordinary people before the war from
different walks of life and religious faiths,
"were their connections with others in rela*
tionships of commitment and care" (Oliner
& Oliner,1988) . These connections were
extensive (the authors title this concluding
chapter, "Moral Heroism and Extensivity"),
and they were initially established in the
patental home by close family relationships
in which loving parents set high standards
fot moral behavior.
Parents provided con*
tinuous "explanations of why behaviors are
inappropriate, often with reference to their
consequences for others" (Oliner & Oliner,
1988, p. 2.60). Children who mature out
of these solid family relationships tend to
internalize their parents' values, which pro*
vide for them the basic value structure for
assessing right and wrong and acting upon
these assessments. Those individuals estab*
lish networks of caring relationships and,
as a result of their aiding others, develop
high self-esteem, reinforcing the original
personality characteristics that led to their
willingness to help in the first place.
The altruistic personality that led rescuers
to risk their lives to help Jews and others
escape from certain death may seem to be
an extreme model for the ideal self, espe*
cially in the more normal setting of peace*
time life, but
it points to an attitude
toward life and self that is significant in
all circumstances. The rescuers refused to
accept the prevailing value system; they
refused to see Jews as beyond help nor
themselves as helpless.
In the powerful final sentences of the book,
"They made a choice that affirmed
the value and meaningfulness of each life
in the midst of a diabolical social order
that repeatedly denied it.
Can we do otherwise?" (Oliner & Oliner, 1988, p. 16o)