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Also, in that sense there is no opposition between prosocial attitudes (
D
cooperation) and conflicts. A conflict can consist of prosocial attitudes, not only
because, for example, I can fight with Z in order to help or protect Y, but my
coming into conflict with you can in itself be in your interest and for your benefit,
as in the case of so-called tutorial conflicts (Sect.
1.2.6
). Moreover, frequently
a good collaboration based on a certain amount of autonomy requires some
conflict in order to find the right solution or level of delegation (Castelfranchi and
Falcone
2000
).
The problem is not in being “selfish” but in pursuing some goal (being goal-
directed), even an altruistic or prosocial one. I care about this and must achieve this;
therefore, I can enter into a conflict with other people pursuing some incompatible
goal (selfish or not). One should not confuse an autonomous actor, guided by his
own internal goals, with a selfish one; pursuing one's own goals does not mean
pursuing them solely for one's own benefit or pleasure.
It is very misleading to see social conflicts as being due only to the selfishness of
individuals and perhaps cooperation as being due to prosocial attitudes or feelings.
We may have cooperation, exchange, and collaboration among selfish actors for
their private interests (as in Adam Smith's theory of how markets function).
Even a basic conflict (between goals) is not due to the selfishness of goals
(Bargh et al.
2008
).
8
Goals are not selfish and do not inherently and necessarily
involve a competition of
omnes contra omnes
, as if behavior could be regulated
by just one single goal. Goals can be contradictory or practically incompatible,
but at the same time they can also be active and perfectly compatible (though
independent and noninstrumental to each other) and pursued by the same action or
plan. Moreover,
alliances between goals
can be formed to prevail over competitors.
If I must choose between action A1 and action A2 or goal G1 and goal G2, I will try
to look at possible outcomes, not just the original motives. I will look for additional
advantages or costs and evaluate the different scenarios against additional goals that
I create. The winner is the multigoal evaluated outcome whose combined value (the
sum of the values of the realized goals minus the value of those that were thwarted
or relinquished) is greater, that is, not a single goal but a set of goals versus another
set of goals.
1.6
Conflict or Cooperation?
Conflict and cooperation, as stated earlier, are two complementary faces of sociality.
8
For a criticism of this thesis see:
https://www.academia.edu/5408854/Why_Goals_are_not_
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