I wonder, my friend, at the confusion of the moral philosophers. I do not pretend to know how a society must be constructed, and perhaps there is no proper way to build humanity, but I am curious about how human beings are the result of evolution. Let us say that we are modified apes. who have arisen from the predatory context of survival of the fittest. Are we to expect, somehow, humane behavior? Are we to believe that predation will somehow abate or that it will disappear because we have arranged our group here one way, with emphasis on certain aspects of humanity for one group and other emphases on another. The communists and the capitalists make that emphasis most clear. Our humanity is predatory in most ways; just watch how we treat other creatures, with arbitrary, random kindness and cruelty.
It is the strength of character who becomes empathetic, yet life-ending, in trying circumstances .That is the "self-overcoming" we seek.