...Psychological egoism is the view that people are always selfish. When was the last time you did a good deed? Did you do it for its own sake, or for your own? The egoist says that all of us are necessarily self-regarding. I shall argue that this view is incorrect. First we should ask, what kind of claim is this? Is it an a priori claim, or a generalization from experience? If it were the latter, we could never conclusively prove it: we could never show that necessarily all actions are selfish. So it must be a priori. But no a priori claim could be substantive: a priori truths are all analytic (that is, the predicate is contained in the subject). So if this claim were analytic, it would become trivial. (It is worth noting that Kripke’s claim that there are a posteriori necessary truths does not show that a priori truths are not analytic.) The situation is paralleled by pseudo-sciences such as Freudian psychoanalysis. As Karl Popper has argued, any theory can be maintained so long as it is drained of empirical content. Like psychoanalysis, psychological egoism makes no genuine claims and can never be refuted. But it purchases certainty at the price of becoming vacuous. I shall have more to say on this below. The simplest way to see the egoist’s mistake is to distinguish between the side-effects of an action and the reason for which it was done. Suppose we grant that in doing a good deed, we usually get a pleasant feeling (though I suspect this is false). ...
Words: 617 - Pages: 3
...PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOSIM & ETHICAL EGOISM There are many different ways to interpret psychological egoism and ethical egoism. Both of this theories have been studied, both have people supporting them as well as rejecting them. Psychological egoism states that whatever you do is for the soul purpose of self-gain no matter what the cost. Ethical egoism in definition is you doing things with the purpose of self-gain but not going farther than the social moral standard to accomplish those goals. I will show how psychological egoism and ethical egoism are false by showing how people sometimes do things because they just feel like doing them, and not all actions have a hidden meaning behind them. Psychological egoism is the theory that claims that anything you do, no matter what it is, is motivated by self-interest. That your motivation is influenced by your desires. That all of our actions even if they may appear to be altruistic, they must have a selfish motive behind it. Even with evidence of altruistic acts from today or in the past, believers of this theory will tell you that those actions can be traced back to acts of selfishness and not for the well-being of others. Last Sunday, while listening to the priest give his explanation of the Gospel, he narrated how once Mother Theresa found this malnourished young child in the streets. She noticed that there was a bakery nearby and walked to the bakery along with the child. Once in...
Words: 1438 - Pages: 6
...Faith Holloway Dr Justin Sytsma PHIL 105 May 5 2014 Critical Analysis of Psychological Egoism Psychological egoism, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (2010), entails that each person has but one ultimate aim: her own welfare. This essay will explore the meaning of psychological egoism, how arguments can be justifiably presented and why this theory is commonly appealing to philosophers. Often supporters of psychological egoism will present arguments through theories such as Darwinism and Desire Satisfaction. This essay essentially aims to critically assess the substantiality of these arguments. In order to correctly assess the arguments in favour of psychological egoism, firstly it must be stated what is implied by these arguments. Psychological egoism has many differences to other egoist theories such as ethical egoism, which state we should be selfish. Psychological egoism however states that all human actions are uncontrollably selfish, and that this is part of our human nature. It should be noted before continuing that this essay will be assessing this more radical form of psychological egoism , which identifies that ‘selfishness is’ the only way one can possibly performs actions, disregarding any consideration of others unless this aids their selfish action in some way. Psychological egoism can seem plausible to its supporters for a variety of reasons. Some of the most common include the concept that desires are entirely our own and therefore pursuing...
Words: 2289 - Pages: 10
...Psychological Egoism and Ethical Egoism: A Comparison Abstract There is a certain innate desire to help others, just as others will feel that same fulfillment for returning that aid. At the same time, however, there is also an inherent yearning to seek out one’s own best interest. This brings about a discussion regarding the difference between psychological egoism and ethical egoism. To understand the similarities and differences, one must first understand the two concepts including their natures, as well as their doctrines of motivation. Psychological Egoism and Ethical Egoism: A Comparison Human beings place great value on the interests of both themselves and others. There is a certain innate desire to help others, just as others will feel that same fulfillment for returning that aid. At the same time, however, there is also an inherent yearning to seek out one’s own best interest. That being said, which is the more natural desire, and which of these will prevail when a decision must be made between self-interest, and the interest of others? This brings about a discussion regarding the difference between psychological egoism and ethical egoism. Philosophers as far back as Plato and Socrates – and likely further – have been pondering over these notions which remain just as relevant today. To understand the similarities and differences, one must first understand the two concepts including their natures, as well as their doctrines of motivation...
Words: 1157 - Pages: 5
...Psychological Egoism In this paper I will argue against psychological egoism. More specifically, I will argue against hedonistic psychological egoism, a popular form of psychological egoism. Hedonistic psychological egoism is the view that the ultimate motive for human action is the desire to experience pleasure or avoid pain. I will begin by contrasting psychological egoism with ethical egoism. I will then discuss arguments that support psychological egoism, and refute those arguments using Rachels’ and Feinberg’s view’s against the theory. I will conclude by arguing that psychological egoism is implausible as it is incapable of being falsified, and fails to distinguish critical terms proposed in the theory. I will begin by defining psychological egoism. Psychological egoism is the view that people always act according to their self-interest. According to this view, our only intrinsic desires are desires for the advancement of our own self-interest. But we can still have instrumental desires for other things. Instrumental desires are desires that you have only because you believe that satisfying that desire will help you satisfy some other desire. For example, I may desire to write this paper only because I believe that by writing this paper I will get a good grade, and I desire to get a good grade; I don’t intrinsically desire to write this paper. Now that I have defined psychological egoism, I will contrast the theory with ethical egoism. Psychological egoism and ethical...
Words: 1910 - Pages: 8
...Psychological egoism is the view that everyone always acts selfishly. It describes human nature as being wholly self-centered and self-motivated. Psychological egoism is different from ethical egoism in their “direction of fit” to the world. Psychological ego-ism is a factual theory. It aims to fit the world. In the world is not how psychological ego-ism says it is because someone acts unselfishly, then something is wrong with psycho-logical egoism. In my opinion this argument is completely wrong and unsound. According to James Rachel, an author of “Elements of Moral Philosophy,” there two main arguments exist against psychological egoism. The first argument can be formulated as such: 1) Everyone always does what they most want to do. 2) If everyone always does what they most want to do, they act selfishly 3) Everyone always acts selfishly. Opponents claim that psychological egoism renders ethics useless. There two cri-ticisms of this argument. First criticism is on premise one: “It is not the case that everyone always does what they most want to do because sometimes people do what they are obligated to do. They are either forced to do it because someone makes them or they do it because they seek the end result of it, such as a visit to the dentist entails.” (J. Rachels p. 70) In his book “Elements of Moral Philosophy” Rachel gives great examples to support this criti-cism: “the soldier who falls on the grenade to save his buddies, the person who runs into the busy...
Words: 652 - Pages: 3
...Ethical Egoism Ethical egoism is a normative theory based on the promotion of one’s own good in accordance with morality (Moseley). Shaver avers that based on the ethical egoism theory it is necessary and sufficient for an action to be morally right and that it maximizes one's self-interest. The promotion and pursuance of one’s self-interest underscores the normative theory. It prescribes the motivation of one’s thought, behaviour, and action. To fully understand the ethical egoism theory we must first know certain principles behind it. Ethical egoism is a normative theory, which means it prescribes how we should think, behave, and act. Three different formulations of ethical egoism have been identified: individual, personal and universal. Individual ethical egoism is the prescriptive doctrine that all persons should serve self-interest. Personal ethical egoism is the belief that one should act from the motive of self-interest. Universal ethical egoism is the universal doctrine that all persons should pursue their own interests exclusively (Shaver). A theory of ethics is said to be coherent if it is founded in truth, consistent and complete. ‘In truth’ means that a statement of action is either true or false and not both. Consistency means that there should be no contradictions or incompatible statements. Completeness means that there should be no moral truth, which is not provable from the basic moral principles of the theory (Moseley). Shaver’s...
Words: 1015 - Pages: 5
...Ethical Egoism We will be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of ethical egoism, but before we begin we first must understand what ethical egoism is and what is involved. Ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to do what is in their own self-interest. It differs from psychological egoism, which claims that people can only act in their self-interest. Ethical egoism also differs from rational egoism, which holds that it is rational to act in one's self-interest. Ethical egoism contrasts with ethical altruism, which holds that moral agents have an obligation to help others. Egoism and altruism both contrast with ethical utilitarianism, which holds that a moral agent should treat one's self with no higher regard than one has for others as egoism does, by elevating self-interests and the self to a status not granted to others, but that one also should not as altruism does sacrifice one's own interests to help others' interests, so long as one's own interests (i.e. one's own desires or well-being) are substantially equivalent to the others' interests and well-being. Egoism, utilitarianism, and altruism are all forms of consequentialism, but egoism and altruism contrast with utilitarianism, in that egoism and altruism are both agent-focused forms of consequentialism (i.e. subject-focused or subjective), but utilitarianism is called agent-neutral (i.e. objective and impartial) as it does not treat the subject's (i.e...
Words: 433 - Pages: 2
...To Treat or Not To Treat To treat or not to treat, that is the question? What would you do? How does the subject of cancer treatment apply to the moral theories of Egoism and Utilitarianism? Which theory best addresses this problem? I would assert Egoism best handles the dilemmas undressed by this ethical scenario. Egoism is a normative ethical theory that contends we act morally when in any given situation the right thing to do will be whatever maximally promotes long term self-interest. It does not describe how people behave; rather, it describes how people "ought" to behave. (Class notes February 23) This is a key element of all normative theories. Another key element of egoism lies in “long term”. Simply stated, an ethical egoist would typically not endorse running up credit card debt. While it might fulfill one's interests in the moment, it would undermine one's long term self-interest. James Rachels says it best; "Ethical egoism endorses selfishness, but it doesn't endorse foolishness.” Rachels also suggests each of us possess the ability to know what is in our own best interest, therefore to attempt to provide charity to another would directly disregard that ability. In essences, to give a man a fish would suggest they do not have the same ability you possess to acquire their own fish. Based on principles outlined by James Rachels and others, Thomas Hobbes may be viewed to be an ethical egoist, although he argued that if everyone follows their own long term...
Words: 1145 - Pages: 5
...jobs in America and transferring them to foreign countries. The impact was negative for our economy, better for a foreign economy, and best for the leaders of said businesses (Wessel, 2011). A solution to this scenario would be to bring at least the majority of the jobs back to America and take a slight blow to the overall profit, in order to decrease the odds of our own economy collapsing. Then again, psychological egoism runs rampant amongst those in charge and damaging profit for the overall well-being of the economy is out of the question right now. Psychological egoism has a small place in my own body of ethics and values. I do tend to be selfish when dealing directly with selfish people. So regardless of the circumstances I just may do some nice things and act certain ways to ensure that my own motives are met first and foremost. I generally don’t surround myself with people like that however, and genuinely try to lean more towards helping others regardless even when there are no benefits for me ( psychological altruism). The theory of psychological egoism almost seems to be the core of the current company I’m employed with. Some examples include...
Words: 392 - Pages: 2
...While many ethicists critically contend for the question relating to whether or not the psychological egoism is correct principle for describing how the people perform their actions today, it is important to understand what is psychological egoism and find out some ethical evidences to prove the fact no matter it is right or wrong. In this essay, I will firstly present the definition of psychological egoism with illustration and then present three main arguments against its being true from the Feinberg’s points of view by giving the strong evidences supporting them. Firstly, according to the theory, “the psychological egoism is the name given to a theory widely held by ordinary people implying that all human actions when properly understood can be seen to be motivated by selfish desire.” (Feinberg, 489). In the other words, the basic idea in the psychological egoism is that the human nature is totally selfish...
Words: 898 - Pages: 4
...whether or not the word is good or evil, lots of people across the world have preached there voice on the matter. However today we are here to focused on these main points. What an egoist is and if it’s good or bad. As well as to discuss and analyze whether or not our main character in Anthem, equality 7-2521 also known as Prometheus at the end of our story is one of them. Equality 7-2521 declares the word ego to be holy at the end of anthem, but is he true fully an egoist and is this a good thing or a bad thing? To start things off we must first understand what the word ego means and what an egoist is. The word ego in literal terms means I from the Latin language. Now the word egoist has a bit of a different meaning, this is a noun from egoism. An egoist is a person who thinks and or believes that oneself comes before all. Now it does not necessarily make it a bad thing by any means but as there are with most things it has pros and cons. So in terms of good things there is giving humans their personal freedom and upholding the human doctrine. However by giving the their personal freedom you also giving them the right to have deadly sins as some say, such as greed and when greed is involved things can get very ugly. You know things such as war can start. People having their individual ideals has lead to multiple wars. In the end I can not really say if it is good or bad. Too much of it can lead to greed and other horrible things like war but if there is none of it then we lose...
Words: 867 - Pages: 4
...Egoists are often thought of as being full of themselves or believing that the world revolves around them, but is that really the case? In the novel, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, the main character demonstrates egoism as being a healthy amount of self-confidence and individualism. He shows that egoism is not negative, rather it should be encouraged. Egoism provides us with individualism and with individualism, we gain a reason to live. We realize that the have a role on the Earth and that we are a human being with rights and a chance to make a difference. The narrator in Anthem shows a perfect example of egoism and the reason why egoism is not something to be ashamed of. I believe that in the novel, Anthem, the main character, Prometheus, is an egoist....
Words: 632 - Pages: 3
...Utilitarianism, Ethical Egoism, and Moral Relativism Tom Gardner Ethics is a branch of philosophy that attempts to answer the questions; what’s right? What’s wrong? And why? Moral relativism is an ethics position that essentially states that people have disagreeing moral beliefs and therefore you must but tolerant of other's morals. This position leads to the problematic realization that if this is the case there can be no objective moral truths nor can there be any universal principles. Act utilitarianism and ethical egoism are two different ethics theories that attempt to respond to this challenge of moral relativism in different ways. Ethical egoism attempts to respond to the challenge of moral relativism by justifying that there is a universal principle for what actions are right and what are wrong. It is a form of consequentialism, which means it looks solely at the consequences of action to see if it is right or wrong. The defining sentence of egoism is as follows, “What's good for you is right and what's bad for you is wrong.” This phrase can be interpreted in a number of ways, the most popular one being: every person should act in their own self-interest. This means that when deciding on whether an action is good, any effect on others (mental or physical) by said action has no merit. An egoist that is measuring or justifying an action's goodness is only examining the possible positive or negative effects this action will have on him. The majority of the justification...
Words: 1382 - Pages: 6
...In his paper, Moral Motivation and Human Nature: Psychological Egoism, Feinberg argues against psychological egoism hedonism by showing that it is paradoxical. Furthermore he shows that this means that arguments for this position are also false. This paper looks to reconstruct this argument, and show the implications of it. Feinberg is arguing against psychological egoism hedonism, which states that humans only act to obtain one’s own pleasure, and hence happiness. Psychological egoism hedonism can be argued for since teaching morality requires incentivising good behaviour with pleasures, and disincentives bad behaviour with pain. Hence, this shows that people act morally as a means to gain pleasure, and thus presupposes Hedonism. Feinberg...
Words: 410 - Pages: 2
