The birth of sociology begets some open questions, including the debate on altruism or moral solidarity. The term “altruism” was coined by Auguste Comte (1929 [1851-1854], I, p.621, 693, 733; 1966 [1852], p.70, 142-143, 173, etc.) and spread following the translations of his works (Dixon, 2012). It is one of the few terms born in the scientific field that will enter the common language whilst retaining its original meaning: those actions that benefit others than the actor. In a nutshell (and Comte’s words), altruism means “vivre pour autrui” (live for others). For Comte, a positivist, altruism represented the powerful impulse necessary for the intellectual and moral development of humanity, towards which we should all strive.
The centrality of altruism in the social sciences can be observed in many classics (see Wuthnow, 1993; Bykov, 2017). Durkheim explains the basis of social solidarity in modern society precisely through the contrast between altruism and egoism. In his well-known ...