Rhetorical Paragraph:Thesis Paragraph

Lichtenberg believes that altruism in a pure sense almost always has ulterior motives but that doesn’t always mean there is a negative twist on that unselfish act. She goes on to explain that achieving a “warm glow” once we do good isn’t the only desire intended. Altruism cannot be truly achieved without desiring the good of others for its own sake. While Lichtenberg uses concrete language to convey the theories of reciprocal altruism and kin selection her own true motive behind altruism’s validity starts to become unveiled. She explains that reciprocal altruism means one is seeking “that the favor will be returned” and kin selection is a genuine sacrifice for another who does not share the same genes, both eventually conveying flaws to altruism. However, Lichtenberg goes on to use these points as a catapult to show her main thesis that even though altruism has its motives that individuals might realize or might not realize, “there might be no single real reason-actions can have multiple motives”.