Egoism

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Egoism

• Plato The Myth of Gyges from The Republic

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Glaucon the case against being just.

• Morality is a necessary evil. If we had the power
  to do whatever we liked without fear of
  punishment, we would not act morally.
• The just man is not essentially different than
  the unjust man. Both the just and the unjust man
  would act the same given the chance.

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Glaucon Argument(continued)

• Being just is not as important as appearing just.
• Attaining justice is fraught with difficulty. It
  is easy and rewarding to be unjust.
• Challenge presented to Socrates in the dialogue
  isnt it better to be an unjust man rather than
  a just one.

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Psychological Egoism

• Psychological egoism is as much a theory about
  who we are as human beings as it is a theory of
  how we ought to act. It is an attempt to give
  one simple explanation of human motivation and
  behavior.
• Psychological Egoism the theory that every human
  action is motivated by self-interest.

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Psych. Egoism (continued)

• To state that individuals are driven by
  self-interest is not to prove it to be the case.
• Basic Test take any virtue or apparently
  selfless act, and see if it is possible to
  reinterpret in terms of self-interest.
• Problem that fact that such a reinterpretation
  is possible does not make it true.

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The Case for Psychological Egoism

• Argument 1 We always do what we most want to do.
  
• Response 1 It is clearly false that we only do
  things that we want to do.

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• Argument 2 We do only that which makes us feel
  good. All so-called un-selfish acts produce a
  feeling of self-satisfaction, and this is the
  actual reason why we engage in the unselfish act.
• Response 1 Deriving satisfaction ? acting
  selfishly.

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• Response 2 Why would someone derive satisfaction
  from helping others?
• Answer You are the kind of person who cares
  about what happens to others. If you were doing
  action for personal prestige, you would not
  derive satisfaction from the action but it is
  already assumed that you are deriving
  satisfaction from the action.

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General confusions by advocate of psychological
egoism.

• As has been mentioned self-interest ? selfish
• Self-interested behavior ? pleasurable behavior
• Concern for ones well-being is incompatible with
  a concern for others.

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Attraction of Psychological Egoism

• Theoretical simplicity (note common in economic
  theory)
• Psychological egoism is irrefutable.
• Problem Its strength is also its weakness. It
  lacks the general principle of being falsifiable
  (un-testable). Once it is accepted that everyone
  acts from self-interest, every action can be
  interpreted as self-interested.

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Ethical Egoism

• Underlying assumption of most morality we have
  natural duties to help others simply because
  they are people who could be helped or harmed by
  what we do.
• Ethical egoism holds that we have no natural
  duties to others.
• Ethical egoism the normative ethical theory that
  holds that each person ought to pursue his or her
  own self-interest. Our only duty is our duty to
  ourselves.

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What ethical egoism does not claim

• Does not require that we consider our interests
  and the interests of others.
• Does not say that we should avoid helping others.
• Does not imply that pursuing our interests is
  always what we want to do.

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Egoism vs. Altruism

• Altruism is self-defeating
• We know our own needs well, but we only know the
  needs of others imperfectly.
• Looking out for others is an intrusion of
  peoples privacy.
• Charity is degrading to others.

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Egoism vs. Altruism (2)

• Argument against altruism
• 1)We ought to do what promotes everyones
  interests
• 2) Best way to promote everyones interests is to
  act as an egoist
• 3)Therefore, We should each pursue our interests
  exclusively

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Ayn Rands Argument (3)

• To value the individual, we cannot expect them to
  sacrifice it for others.
• 1) A persons life is of supreme importance
• 2) Altruism regards the life of the individual as
  something one must be ready to sacrifice for
  others.
• 3) Therefore, altruism does not take seriously
  the value of the human individual.
• 4) Ethical egoism allows each person to value his
  or her own life as being of ultimate value.
• 5) Therefore, ethical egoism is the philosophy we
  ought to accept.

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Response to Rands Argument

• False dichotomy individual life has all value
  (egoism) or individual life has no value
  (altruism).
• We do not have to hold exclusively to one extreme
  or the other-can hold a position in-between.

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Positive Argument for Egoism

• Ethical Egoism is compatible with common-sense
  morality ethical egoism is a way of organizing
  a number of moral principles (simplifying
  principle akin to a scientific theory emc2 .
• Response 1) At best E.E. proves that it is
  usually or mostly to ones advantage to follow
  certain moral principles, 2) Does not really
  prove that the only or most basic reason for
  doing something is egoism

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External Criticism of Ethical Egoism

• Egoism justifies what we take to be wicked acts.
• -Not an objection the egoist will find
  compelling.
• -Egoist is not concerned with justifying our
  current moral intuitions.

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Internal Criticism of the Theory

• Cannot handle conflicts of interest
• -Egoist Response Only troubling if we believe
  that ethics must resolve conflicts such that all
  can live together harmoniously.
• Ethical egoism is unacceptably arbitrary.
• Me vs. everyone else.