# LANGUAGE translation of https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/self-interest.html # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc. # This file is distributed under the same license as the original article. # FIRST AUTHOR , YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: self-interest.html\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2021-10-01 10:56+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME \n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE \n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Content of: msgid "Self-Interest - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "Self-Interest" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "by Loyd Fueston" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Is Self-Interest Sufficient to Organize a Free Economy?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The quick answer is, “No.” And few of the better-known " "theoreticians of the free-market have ever thought that self-interest was, " "or even could be, sufficient to organize, or long maintain, a free economy. " "Among those theoreticians, Adam Smith is often regarded as having been the " "primary philosopher of self-interest. In a book written to correct a number " "of misunderstandings of Smith's teachings, we find the following summaries " "of Smith's view about self-interest:" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "" "Far from being an individualist, Smith believed it is the influence of " "society that transforms people into moral beings. He thought that people " "often misjudge their own self-interest." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Even more directly to the point:" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "" "[Adam Smith] regarded the attempt to explain all human behavior on the basis " "of self-interest as analytically misguided and morally pernicious. <a " "href=\"#fn1\">[1]</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "As Adam Smith certainly realized, self-interest will be one of the principal " "forces organizing economic activities in any society, but that is as true of " "the most repressive or brutal society as it is of a relatively free and open " "society. Most of us will not like the results of self-interest untempered by " "a respect for other creatures. As a recent example, in running their " "country to the disadvantage of most Soviet citizens, the leaders of the " "Communist Party and of the Soviet military and intelligence services were " "advancing their own self-interests, at least as they understood or " "misunderstood those interests." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The advantages enjoyed by Americans over citizens of the Soviet countries, " "and the advantages we still enjoy over the nominally free citizens of Russia " "and other eastern European countries, are those of a society organized to " "allow a high percentage of Americans to act in such a way as to serve both " "their self-interest and some substantial stock of moral principles. Not only " "our habits and customs, but also our positive laws—such as those of " "copyright—enter into that organization of our society, for good or " "bad, but not in a morally neutral manner." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Self-interest is not necessarily evil, though it can lead people to act in " "morally reprehensible ways. The love of self, and the consequent development " "of self-interest, is one aspect of a creature who is also a social, and " "hence moral, being. Self-interest itself can serve moral interests in a free " "society so long as that society has the proper foundations. The elements of " "those foundations include not only a populace sharing a substantial body of " "moral beliefs and habits but also the formal political structures, positive " "laws, and accepted court decisions capable of supporting both social order " "and personal freedom. Once those are in place, and once they have been " "internalized by the bulk of the citizens, then self-interest will provide a " "fuel of sorts to keep an economy functioning effectively without leading to " "immoral results on the whole. The question is always: Is our society " "organized properly, in its positive laws and in the habits we teach our " "children and reinforce in ourselves, so that self-interest and moral " "principles do not generally come into conflict?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Those people aware of modern mathematics or of programming techniques should " "appreciate the recursive, and inherently unstable, interactions between " "individual morality and social structure. To oversimplify in a useful " "manner: People with substantial moral beliefs organize societies along those " "beliefs and those societies then begin to form the habits and beliefs of " "children, immigrants, etc. according to those same beliefs. Always, it is a " "messy historical process which can be destroyed or rerouted into less " "desirable paths. There is inevitably a question as to whether we are " "straying from a proper path and also a question as to how robust the society " "is, i.e., how much of a disturbance it would take to destroy much of what is " "good about that society." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Sometimes, good people will decide that something has gone wrong and it is " "time to fight for a moral principle even if it becomes necessary to " "sacrifice, or at least qualify, their own self-interest. In the words of " "Thomas Sowell, a free-market theorist of our time:" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "" "There are, of course, noneconomic values. Indeed, there are <em>only</em> " "noneconomic values. Economics is not a value itself but merely a method of " "trading off one value against another. If statements about " "“noneconomic values” (or, more specifically, “social " "values” or “human values”) are meant to deny the inherent " "reality of trade-offs, or to exempt some particular value from the trade-off " "process, then such selfless ideals can be no more effectively demonstrated " "than by trading off financial gains in the interest of such ideals. This is " "an economic trade-off. <a href=\"#fn2\">[2]</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In context, Professor Sowell was not arguing against those imputing some " "sort of moral power to self-interest; he was instead arguing against those " "who think there should be an easy path to the reform of a society which may " "have a particular moral defect. Those are two sides to the same " "coin—serving self-interest may put a person in conflict with moral " "values and the attempt to serve moral values may lead to some sacrifice of " "one's self-interest." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Self-interest can be a powerful fuel for a society, at least when the " "citizens of that society are well-formed individuals, but there is no " "mystical or magical aspect to self-interest that guarantees moral " "results. Self-interest will lead to generally moral results to the extent " "that moral constraints, external but mostly internal, guide the actions of " "the self-interested parties. A society with the proper constraints does not " "come into existence by some act of magic, but rather by the acts of people " "who are aiming at a higher purpose, whether the preservation of liberty in " "the society as a whole or the preservation of a cooperative spirit within " "communities of programmers, or maybe both of those at the same time." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Footnotes" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><ol><li> msgid "" "Both quotes are from page 2 of <cite>Adam Smith: In His Time and " "Ours</cite>, Jerry Z. Muller, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><ol><li> msgid "" "From page 79 of <cite>Knowledge & Decisions</cite>, Thomas Sowell, New " "York: Basic Books, 1980." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a " "href=\"/contact/\">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and " "other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a " "href=\"mailto:webmasters@gnu.org\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, #. replace it with the translation of these two: # #. We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality #. translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. #. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard #. to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Copyright © 1998 Loyd Fueston <a " "href=\"mailto:fueston@banet.net\"><fueston@banet.net></a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any " "medium, provided this notice is preserved." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""