In 1851, Auguste Comte, the French philosopher and father of sociology, coined the word altruisme (from the Latin for "others") as part of a drive to create a non-religious religion, based on scientific principles. He defined it as "intentional action, ultimately for the welfare of others that entails at least the possibility of either no benefit or a loss to the actor", recognising it as one of the two most important findings of modern science, with the discovery of the motion of Earth. At that time, studies of animal behaviour and phrenology led him to locate egotistical instincts at the back of the brain, altruistic ones at the front.
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