Everyone does selfish things, some of those things make people happier. The author doesn't say to help people to be not selfish, the author says to help people to feel better about yourself.
>"This is NOT an approach to life that should be encouraged or applauded."
Any reason why not?
>"If you are the world's most efficient and productive marble bathtub designer, and you only help others to the extent that it makes you happier, you are a jerk."
What if you are the world's most productive and efficient designer of water systems to help save people in third world countries, and you only do it to the extend it makes you happier, are you still a jerk?
I like the way you pass judgement on people and at the same time try to get people to not help others because you view it as selfish.
[added] scarcrowbob (below) has such a good comment it is quotable.
Yeah, his post is so asinine it makes my head hurt.
At the end of the day, there is a selfish component to everything. There is no such thing as pure altruism: even acts that seem purely altruistic are performed ultimately because they make the person feel good.
The important thing is that this does not make the person a jerk. I mean, is Bill Gates a jerk? No, right? Helping other people makes him happier, and gives him satisfaction with the feeling of giving back to the world, but if we act like rational people and evaluate his actions on the effect they have on others, then he's definitely an awesome person.
I like to combine moral relativism with the person's intent, both internal (what they hope to accomplish for themselves) and their external intent (what they hope to accomplish for others) with the impact of their actions.
Any single approach will likely cause massive errors in analysis. That is typical of all analysis, not just philosophy.
I'm sure we'd all be better people if instead of helping others, we spent time judging and bashing those who spend time helping others but don't have the proper frame of mind when doing so.
Then we could get into the whole philosophy 101 debate of "Does truly selfless behavior exist?"
First of all, recent research has indicated that shallow happiness is not as important for well-being as a sense of purpose (http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/meaning-is...).
Second, if you spend time helping others only so far as it enriches your life, that is literally the definition of selfishness. This is NOT a philosophy that should be encouraged or applauded.
Productivity is not an end, it is a means to accomplish something. If you are the world's most efficient and productive marble bathtub designer, and you only help others to the extent that it makes you happier, you are a jerk.