Altruism in the times of Calamity

“One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others.”                                                                                                          Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)

In our days of calamity due to the global pandemic, it seems timely to reflect about the virtue of altruism in healthcare.

The term altruism (derived from Latin alter, “other”) was coined by the French philosopher and sociologist Auguste Comte (1798–1857).  Altruism is when we act to promote someone else’s welfare, even at a risk or cost to ourselves, and not expecting anything in return. It is the opposite of selfishness and probably one of the most difficult and least popular virtues in medical practice in modern society.

In the last decades healthcare has become a business and increasingly expensive worldwide. At the same time virtues such as altruism and compassion have been despised, considered old-fashionable, and incompatible with the personal interest and profit of health professionals.

However, this problem is not new. In Plato’s Republic, in the fictional dialogue between Socrates and Thrasymachus, asks Socrates: “What’s the real aim of the doctor in the precise sense of the word? (…) To make money or to treat the sick?” Thrasymachus answers without hesitation: “To treat the sick, obviously!”.^{1To continue reading download now}