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ialdabaoth comments on Checklist of Rationality Habits - Less Wrong
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Sally doesn't give Jack the cake because Jack hasn't had any, rather, Sally gives Jack the cake because she wants to. That's why explicitly calling the motivation selfish is useful, because it clarifies that obligations are still subjective and rooted in individual values (it also clarifies that obligations don't mandate sacrifice or asceticism or any other similar nonsense). You say that it's obvious that all actions occur from internally motivated states as a result of neurons firing, but it's not obvious to most people, which is why pointing out that the action stems from the internal desires of Sally is still useful.
Why not just specify to people that motivations or obligations are "subjective and rooted in individual values"? Then you don't have to bring in the word "selfish", with all its common-usage connotations.
I want those common-usage connotations brought in because I want to eradicate the taboo around those common-usage connotations, I guess. I think that people are vilified for being selfish in lots of situations where being selfish is a good thing, at least from that person's perspective. I don't think that people should ever get mad at defectors in Prisoner's Dilemmas, for example, and I think that saying that all of morality is selfish is a good way to fix this kind of problem.