There is nothing more natural than self-interest. But the social game is conducted in such a way that we are all the time ashamed to somehow find it, because Christianity has taught us that self-interest is bad. But on altruistic principles you won’t last long, especially if the rest do not coordinate their life too much with moral imperatives. In any case, we will consider the meaning of the noun, its synonyms and origin.
Origin
Have you ever met a case that a person who began his life well, then ended badly? This is the fate of not only people, but also words.
What could be more beautiful than the clang of swords, the battle, and then, of course, the booty that went as a reward for victory? Nothing! And therefore, self-interest is a noun that means prey received in battle. So it was before.
True, not everyone agrees on this interpretation. Some believe that the noun came from koriti, that is, "to conquer." Here, “self-interest” is “share”, “part”. There is another explanation. "Self-interest" comes from the now-lost word "self-interest." And it, in turn, is formed from "risti" - "say, ride."
Stress and meaning
Let's start with the orthoepic norm of the Russian language. Surely the reader noticed how some people say the word "self-interest" with an emphasis on the first syllable. So, this is the wrong option. If a person is accustomed to the correct stress (on the second syllable), the distortion of pronunciation brings unprecedented suffering. The dilemma also arises: to correct or not a person speaking incorrectly? This question is hard to answer. Let's put it this way: if you can afford to make a remark, then you need to pay the speaker's attention to the mistake, and if you do not have the rank, then it is better to suffer in silence.
The value is likely to bring no surprises, but we should mention it:
- Benefit, material benefit.
- The same as greed.
Since we are here, then let us reveal the meaning of "self-interest": "The pursuit of personal gain, profit, greed." You see that personal interest becomes a problem only if there is a desire to squeeze the maximum out of any situation for yourself.
Synonyms
On the complex relationship between the norm and the pathology of egoism a little later, but for now we will consider the synonyms of "self-interest":
- interest;
- benefit;
- acquiring;
- commercialism.
And, unfortunately, that’s all, if you don’t fall into tautology. To the first two positions of the list you need to mentally add the adjective "personal" to emphasize the negativity of nouns. But, we think, the reader already understood everything.
Norm and pathology of personal interest
After we realized that self-interest is simply awful, you need to recover a little and calm down, and even distinguish between the concepts of self-interest and personal interest. Self-interest, as a rule, approaches in importance with self-interest. How do root words differ? When “love” is added to our noun, then profit becomes an obsession. Now there are plenty of such people. Need examples:
- It’s normal to get paid at work and look for better deals.
- It is abnormal when any action is considered in terms of its payback. A friend asks you to help him, and you bill for services. True, if the "assistance" is systematic and free of charge, then it is already worth discussing the terms of cooperation.
As elsewhere, here pathology is generated by excessiveness. The desire for a good life is natural, unnaturally different - to try to squeeze money out of everything and, most importantly, to seduce such a desire with many broken fates. The hero of the story by A. P. Chekhov “Gooseberries” is a suitable example in this sense.
Probably, the difference between egoism and selfishness, well-deserved pay for labors and love of money is generally the subject of a separate essay. And in the sense of self-awareness, it is very difficult to understand where the line lies between ordinary self-esteem and greed. There is much to think about. Therefore, we are moving away.