Ethical Egoism Is The View That Each of Us Ought To Pursue Our Own Self-Interest, and No-One Has Any

Sami Liam M.
Tamayo
EC12FA1
ASSIGNMENT 1
1. Discuss the following with examples:
Ethical egoism is the view that each of us ought to pursue our own self-interest, and no-one has any
obligation to promote anyone else’s interests. It is thus a normative or prescriptive theory: it is concerned with
how we ought to behave. In this respect, ethical egoism is quite different from psychological egoism, the theory
that all our actions are ultimately self-interested. Psychological egoism is a purely descriptive theory that purports
to describe a basic fact about human nature.
Think of the standard ethical principles -- truth-telling, generosity, non-maleficence (this means: do no harm),
do not insult, fulfill your promises, etc. From earlier documents, we know that ethical theories ground, or explain,
or provide a theoretical explanation for principles. One very important question we will continue to ask throughout
this semester is: do the theories we are looking at do a good job of accounting for these principles?
Take "truth telling" as an example. The principle suggests that we should tell the truth, that we ought not
deceive others. Ethical egoism explains why this principle holds -- it explains the ground of our obligation. It
explains the true meaning (I don't like that phrase, but I'll use it here for the moment) of the principle. It suggests,
ultimately, that the reason why we ought not lie is because if we do lie, that has a high probability of negatively
impacting my personal happiness. From the perspective of ethical egoism, that and that alone is the ground for
the principle of "truth telling."
Let’s say that you are at a coffee shop, and you purchase a beverage for $5.50. You give the cashier a
ten-dollar bill; the cashier then gives you $14.50 change — clearly confusing your ten for a twenty. Most of us
would give back the extra ten; the reasons may vary, but we generally consider it wrong to take money that’s not
yours. If someone asserts that they are an egoist, then they would have to take the extra ten. Who cares what
happens to the cashier, or the coffee shop? The money was put in your hands, it benefits your self-interest to
keep it, and that’s that.
Yes, some professed egoists would engage in intellectual gymnastics to rationalize giving the extra money
back, but ultimately it comes down to giving up something that would be of benefit to you.
Psychological egoism is the thesis that we are always deep down motivated by what we perceive to be in
our own self-interest. Psychological altruism, on the other hand, is the view that sometimes we can have
ultimately altruistic motives. Suppose, for example, that Pam saves Jim from a burning office building. What
ultimately motivated her to do this? It would be odd to suggest that it’s ultimately her own benefit that Pam is
seeking. After all, she’s risking her own life in the process. But the psychological egoist holds that Pam’s
apparently altruistic act is ultimately motivated by the goal to benefit herself, whether she is aware of this or
not. Pam might have wanted to gain a good feeling from being a hero, or to avoid social reprimand that would
follow had she not helped Jim, or something along these lines.
Several other egoistic views are related to, but distinct from psychological egoism. Unlike ethical egoism,
psychological egoism is merely an empirical claim about what kinds of motives we have, not what they ought to
be. So, while the ethical egoist claims that being self-interested in this way is moral, the psychological egoist
merely holds that this is how we are. Similarly, psychological egoism is not identical to what is often called
“psychological hedonism.” Psychological hedonism restricts the range of self-interested motivations to only
pleasure and the avoidance of pain. Thus, it is a specific version of psychological egoism.
There are at least two main categories of psychological egoism—desire-based and ‘objective.’ The first
says that humans are always doing what they desire. For example, even if you say you don’t want to do your
homework, you do choose to do it; you have the option to not do it, and suffer the consequences. So, you do
desire to do your homework—just not for its own sake.
2. Define the following:

In philosophy, egoism is the theory that one’s self is, or should be, the motivation and the goal of one’s own
action. Egoism has two variants, descriptive or normative. The descriptive (or positive) variant conceives egoism
as a factual description of human affairs. That is, people are motivated by their own interests and desires, and
they cannot be described otherwise. The normative variant proposes that people should be so motivated,
regardless of what presently motivates their behavior. Altruism is the opposite of egoism. The term “egoism”
derives from “ego,” the Latin term for “I” in English. Egoism should be distinguished from egotism, which means a
psychological overvaluation of one’s own importance, or of one’s own activities.
Altruism refers to any behavior that is designed to increase another person’s welfare, and particularly those
actions that do not seem to provide a direct reward to the person who performs them (Batson, Ahmad, & Stocks,
2011; Dovidio, Piliavin, Schroeder, & Penner, 2006; Penner, Dovidio, Piliavin, & Schroeder, 2005). Rather than
being the exception to the rule, recent research seems to indicate that these kinds of behaviors are intuitive,
reflexive, and even automatic (Zaki & Mitchell, 2013). Altruism occurs when we donate blood, when we stop to
help a stranger who has been stranded on the highway, when we volunteer at a homeless shelter or donate to a
charity, or when we get involved to prevent a crime from occurring.
Benevolence, or good will, are terms indicating a charitable disposition to do good in regard to others, and to
act with genuinely compassionate and kind considerations of their needs and desires. It is embraced as a vitally
important ethical virtue in most human societies, religions, philosophies and cultures.
First, in everyday life we often rely on what Parfit calls “common-sense morality” — a morality defined by
our relationships to particular people, such as “our children, parents, friends, benefactors, pupils, patients, clients,
colleagues… or fellow-citizens”. Common-sense morality urges unequal moral weightings in our considerations
of these people, and, well, most people find that to be common sense. (By contrast, a purely utilitarian morality
might demand that we discount our particular relations to them, and treat all people only with regard to aggregate
happiness.)

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Sami Liam M.

1. Discuss the following with examples:

2. Define the following:

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