Altruism 指無私地關心他人福祉並為其利益而行動。
核心概念
EN: The principle or practice of selfless concern for the well-being of others.
翻譯: 指無私地關心他人福祉的原則或行為。
行為表現
EN: An act of helping others without expecting anything in return.
翻譯: 指不期待任何回報而幫助他人的行為。
生物學/心理學觀點
EN: Behavior by an individual that increases the fitness of another while decreasing its own.
翻譯: 在生物學或心理學上，指個體做出降低自身適應性、但增加其他個體適應性的行為。
哲學與倫理
EN: An ethical doctrine that holds the interests of others as equally important as one's own.
翻譯: 一種倫理學說，主張將他人的利益視為與自身利益同等重要。
小提醒：注意 altruism 強調的是「無私」與「不求回報」，與單純的「友善」或「合作」不同。其反義詞是 egoism（利己主義）。
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Real-life Examples of "Altruism" from YouTube Videos
Dean Ornish: Healing through diet
TED
“It can be sexual intimacy -- I happen to think healing energy and erotic energy are just different forms of the same thing: Friendship, altruism, compassion, service -- all the perennial truths that we talked about that are part of all religion and all cultures.”
1. the principle or practice of unselfish concern for the welfare of others
無私地關心他人福祉的原則或行為
Her lifelong dedication to helping refugees was a true act of altruism.
她畢生致力於幫助難民，是真正的利他主義行為。
The foundation was built on a philosophy of altruism and social responsibility.
這個基金會建立在利他主義和社會責任的哲學之上。
2. behavior by an animal that is not beneficial to or may harm itself but benefits others of its species
動物表現出的對自身無益或可能有害，但對同種其他個體有益的行為
The biologist studied altruism in bee colonies, where worker bees sacrifice themselves for the hive.
這位生物學家研究了蜜蜂群體中的利他行為，工蜂會為了蜂巢犧牲自己。
Some theories of evolution seek to explain the existence of altruism in animal behavior.
一些進化論試圖解釋動物行為中利他主義的存在。
3. a selfless act or motivation
無私的行為或動機
Donating a kidney to a stranger is an extraordinary example of altruism.
捐贈腎臟給陌生人，是利他主義一個非凡的例子。
His decision was driven more by altruism than by any hope of reward.
他的決定更多是出於利他主義，而非對回報的期望。
| Pattern | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| altruism + towards + person/group | 對…的利他行為 | His altruism towards the refugees was widely admired. (他對難民的利他行為廣受讚揚。) |
| altruism + of + person | …的利他主義 | The altruism of the volunteers saved many lives. (志願者的利他主義拯救了許多生命。) |
| act out of altruism | 出於利他主義行事 | She donated the entire prize money, acting purely out of altruism. (她捐出了全部獎金，完全是出於利他主義行事。) |
| a spirit of altruism | 一種利他精神 | The community project was driven by a spirit of altruism. (這個社區計畫是由一種利他精神所驅動的。) |
| motivated by altruism | 受利他主義驅動 | Their decision was motivated by altruism, not profit. (他們的決定是受利他主義驅動，而非利益。) |
EN:She made an altruistic donation to the charity.
翻譯:她向慈善機構進行了一次無私的捐贈。
EN:The foundation's work is based on pure altruism.
翻譯:該基金會的工作是基於純粹的利他主義。
EN:His motives for helping were completely altruistic.
翻譯:他提供幫助的動機完全是利他的。
記住：altruism 是你要談論的「概念或行為」，而 altruistic 是用來「描述」人或行為的性質。
altruism vs selfishness
「altruism」指無私為他人奉獻，而「selfishness」則是完全相反的自私行為。
altruism vs philanthropy
「altruism」是內在的無私精神，而「philanthropy」是實踐此精神的具體慈善行動。
altruism vs benevolence
「altruism」是徹底的無私奉獻，而「benevolence」是較為廣泛的善意與仁慈。
在對話中，當引述或轉述他人對「利他主義」的看法時，常會使用較口語的引導詞。 EN: I was reading this article, and the author kept talking about "altruism" as if it's the solution to everything. 翻譯: 我讀了那篇文章，作者一直把「利他主義」掛在嘴邊，好像它是解決一切問題的萬靈丹。
EN:My philosophy professor always says, "True altruism is rare, but it's what we should strive for."
翻譯:我的哲學教授總是說：「真正的利他主義很罕見，但那是我們應該追求的目標。」
談論「利他主義」時，為了強調其重要性或表達個人感受，會加入語氣詞或修飾語。 EN: That act of pure altruism—helping a stranger without expecting anything back—it just really moved me. 翻譯: 那種純粹的利他行為——不求回報地幫助陌生人——真的讓我很感動。
EN:It's not just about kindness; it's about genuine altruism, you know?
翻譯:這不只是友善而已，你知道嗎？這關乎真正的利他主義。
在組織想法或尋找合適詞彙時，可能會用「利他主義」這個詞本身或相關短語作為停頓填充。 EN: His motivation was... well, I guess you could call it altruism, but it's complicated. 翻譯: 他的動機是…嗯，我想你可以稱之為利他主義啦，但事情沒那麼簡單。
EN:We need more of that, uh, community altruism spirit to make things better.
翻譯:我們需要更多那種，呃，社區利他主義的精神來讓事情變得更好。
正式寫作注意：在學術或正式寫作中，應避免上述口語用法。請直接、精確地定義和使用「altruism」一詞，並避免添加引導詞、語氣填充詞或過於個人化的評論，以保持論述的客觀性與嚴謹性。
an act of altruism
an act of [noun]
利他主義的行為
pure altruism
[adjective] [noun]
純粹的利他主義
show altruism
[verb] [noun]
展現利他精神
driven by altruism
[verb phrase] by [noun]
受利他主義驅使
the spirit of altruism
the spirit of [noun]
利他主義精神
biological altruism
[adjective] [noun]
生物利他主義
reciprocal altruism
[adjective] [noun]
互惠利他主義
altruism vs. egoism
[noun] vs. [noun]
利他主義 vs. 利己主義
×He is a very altruism person.
✓He is a very altruistic person.
「altruism」是名詞，不能當形容詞用。形容詞形式是「altruistic」。
×He showed many altruisms by donating money.
✓He showed great altruism by donating money.
「altruism」是不可數名詞，通常沒有複數形。表示「大量」時，應使用「great altruism」、「deep altruism」等。
×Giving your friend a birthday gift is pure altruism.
✓Giving your friend a birthday gift is an act of kindness, not necessarily pure altruism.
「altruism」特指完全無私、不求回報（甚至犧牲自我利益）的利他行為。一般的善意或對親友的幫助，可能帶有情感回報的預期，不完全符合「altruism」的嚴格定義。
×His behavior was motivated by altruism.
✓His behavior was motivated by altruism. (or) His behavior was motivated by a sense of altruism.
當「altruism」作為抽象概念使用時，通常不加冠詞。但如果前面有修飾語（如 a deep sense of, a spirit of），則需遵循該片語的冠詞規則。原句本身正確，但學習者常誤加冠詞。此條目旨在提醒正確用法。
×alturism / altruisim
✓altruism
常見拼寫錯誤，混淆字母順序（u 和 r）或漏掉字母 i。正確拼寫為 a-l-t-r-u-i-s-m。