ABSTRACT
Those who speak of altruism usually intend some moral assessment about the quality of motivation that prompts a gift, suggesting that it is made without reference to self interest. However, economic theorists have observed that, morals aside, giving is never truly altruistic because for giving to occur there must be some positive or negative incentive that operates selectively on the donor to induce the gift. One cynical version of philanthropy argues that self-interested gifts to activities the donor engages in do not deserve a subsidy because the donor partakes in the benefit he supports. Examples include gifts to the symphony by ticket-holders and religious contributions from the congregation. At the extreme, some theorists maintain that all giving is, by nature, egoistic because it necessarily satisfies at least a desire to give. A number of theorists have postulated another polarized categorization of the motivation for giving, one that operates on a somewhat different spectrum.
