Is A Good Deed Always a Good Deed, Despite the Motivation Behind It?

United States
May 9, 2010 11:28pm CST
So, here's what happened. I was with my mom today for Mother's Day, and we were at the beach. This particular beach does a thing every Sunday: In the morning, volunteers set up crosses in the sand, symbolizing American soldiers who have died in the Iraq War. At 5:00pm, they take them down. We happened to be there at around five o' clock, and the volunteers assumed we wanted to help take them down. Now, my mom was really eager to do just that, so she began to do it. My sister, her husband, my wife and myself were not planning to spend our day doing that, but it was Mother's Day, and my mom wanted to do it, so we all helped out. Good deed, right? Anyone passing by would think, "Oh, that's nice. All those people working together to take down the exhibit. Except that the motivation behind it, at least for four of us, was less, "Let's be helpful," and more, "This is kind of annoying, but it's my mom's day, so we really should. So, the question becomes: Is a good deed always just that, because the result is what matters? Or does the motivation behind it matter, because intent is the real point? Let's discuss!
1 response
@sender621 (14893)
• United States
10 May 10
Anyone can perform a good deed. We have to look at the actions and consequences of why we performed our good deeds. That will provide necedssity for motivation.
• United States
10 May 10
So, do you think we can retroactively assign motivation? Like, in my example above, the deed was good, but the motivation behind it wasn't for the betterment of those needing the deed to be done. However, if I look at it from a different angle, I can say that the motivation of wanting my mom to have a good Mother's Day makes it good all around. What do you think?