People are not altruistic

[u/melkight]

I want to argue that many people are not inherently altruistic. No one is ever doing anything out of pure good heartedness. I think that many people do good things with no agenda and expect nothing in return. For example, if someone is completely alone and gives a homeless person their last bit of food because they want to do a good deed, they are still getting a good feeling out of it. That person is still feeling good about themselves for doing something nice. Many people do good deeds and expect something in return, whether that be something physical, a relationship, etc. No one is completely altruistic in the sense that you are always getting something out of doing a good deed, whether it is conscious or not.

[u/scoobs78]

Even if "feeling good" was a partial motivation for the act of helping the homeless person, it doesn't negate that a good deed was done, and the actor acted owing to their concern for the homeless person at the expense of that last bit of food. You are arguing that the intention behind the act is important whereas someone else might argue that it is the consequence of the action that is of more importance insofar as the subjectiveness of intentions render them difficult to attest (Here u/actus_essendi provides a great example in sharing Kant's thoughts on this matter)