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I'm working on a core values course and a value that comes up often is the desire to act for the benefit of humanity as a whole.

Example usage;

My core values include curiosity, creativity, and X.

When I vote, I always choose the candidate who shows the greatest amount of X

Where I'm at;

  • Altruism is close, and can work in a pinch, but I'd prefer a word that describes this at largest scale- as in improving the future of mankind, rather than a smaller group of people.
  • Humanism is perhaps even closer but it tends to focus on psychology and philosophy- whereas the 'benefit' could just as easily be something like free energy technology.
  • The word should focus on the desire to benefit humanity rather than any selflessness or sacrifice that might be involved.
  • Would love to find a single word to describe this, but 2 words would work ok, e.g. Humanistic altruism if that ends up being the best we can do.
  • In this case I'm fine with non-English words, e.g. German, Japanese, Sanskrit...
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  • From the the single-word-request tag info: To ensure that your question is not closed as off-topic, please be specific about the intended use of the word. INCLUDE A SAMPLE SENTENCE demonstrating how the word would be used.
    – DW256
    Jun 21, 2021 at 0:58
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    To have global altruism as a goal is why Miss Universe calls for world peace: it sounds ideal. But like many ideals, it goes too far from everyday kindness.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Jun 21, 2021 at 0:59

2 Answers 2

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Humanitarianism seems to be simple and obvious to me.

From Cambridge English Dictionary:

a belief in improving people's lives and reducing suffering:

The doctors’ mission is motivated by humanitarianism

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  • You should include a dictionary definition to complete the answer.
    – KillingTime
    Jun 21, 2021 at 4:21
  • Great answer, and it met my question well. It also helped me see that my question was off a bit. The ideal word would be better described as "for the benefit of the future of mankind."
    – Memetican
    Jun 22, 2021 at 6:30
  • Great answer, and it met my question well. It also helped me see that my question was probably off-target a bit. The ideal word would be better described as "for the benefit of the future of mankind." The distinction is, some governing actions such as privacy restrictions, population control, rationing, gun bans, might benefit humanity best long-term, but might not be appreciated by current generations. When I dig into the definition of humanitarianism, it seems to prioritize benefit at the immediate individual level as well.
    – Memetican
    Jun 22, 2021 at 6:36
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A common term for expressing this is philanthropy.

Lexico:

philanthropy
NOUN

1 The desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes.

‘he acquired a considerable fortune and was noted for his philanthropy’

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