Towards a New Configuration of the Ego / Alter Relationship: The Rediscovery of Altruism

One should not imagine that the social sciences discovered altruism when Comte coined the term, understood as a powerful impulse to the intellectual and moral development of mankind. On the contrary, since ancient times scholars have tried to explain (cause and effect) and understand (sense and meaning) the reasons why in certain situations some men behave positively towards others (altruistic behaviour) while in similar ones the same men behave differently. While not every discipline used the term altruism, this does not mean that human and social sciences have not dealt with behaviours that could directly or indirectly be related to it. We will review the evolution of this phenomenology of human action based on its “concept of man” of reference. We will argue that the rediscovery of altruism can be considered a new configuration of the Ego/Alter relationship.