Just like other things that stand out, Bitcoin will be bitcoin even without altcoins. Bitcoin doesn't need any altcoin, it doesn't depend on any altcoin. On the other hand, all altcoins depend on Bitcoin and without the existence of Bitcoin, altcoin will not be created. Sure that Bitcoin's price is somewhat moved by the investors of altcoins, but that still doesn't mean Bitcoin owe altcoins anything.
I don't agree, I think Bitcoin owes a lot to altcoins. What you say is true that Bitcoin would still be here even if altcoins didn't exist but it wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is today. It would probably still only have a few thousand users right now. Most people just wouldn't be interested in getting into Bitcoin since the gold rush period is long gone.
New altcoins means new gold rush periods and people want to be early adopters in case the coins take off.
It is simply not possible to dream with Bitcoin anymore. Sure people can say, it will reach $1000's of dollar in the future but deeper down they know they're grasping at straws.
New coins, on the other hand have real chances of making people serious money, they all start out the same way as Bitcoin did, worthless and easy to get but have the potential of reaching the moon. And the altcoin incentive drives people to convert their Dollars to Bitcoin.