ethical egoism (ppt)
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Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D.Director, The Values InstituteUniversity of San Diego
2/21/2013 (c) Lawrence M. Hinman 1
Look out for #1
and there is no #2Ethical Egoism
mailto:hinman@sandiego.edu?subject=PowerPoint%20Presentationmailto:hinman@sandiego.edu?subject=PowerPoint%20Presentation -
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Be My Valentine?
Love, we are repeatedly taught, consists of self-sacrifice. Love based on self-interest, we areadmonished, is cheap and sordid. True love, weare told, is altruistic. But is it?
Genuine love is the exact opposite. It is the mostselfish experience possible, in the true sense ofthe term: it benefits your life in a way thatinvolves no sacrifice of others to yourself nor ofyourself to others.
--Gary HullValentines Day, 1998
Ayn Rand Institute in Marina del Rey
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Ethical Egoism
Selfishness is extolledas a virtue
Ayn Rand,The Virtue ofSelfishness
May appeal topsychological egoism
as a foundation
Often very compelling
for high schoolstudents
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Versions of Ethical Egoism
Personal Ethical Egoism
I am going to act only in my own interest, and
everyone else can do whatever they want.
Individual Ethical Egoism Everyone should act in my own interest.
Universal Ethical Egoism
Each individual should act in his or her own
self interest.
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Arguments for Ethical Egoism
There are at least three principalarguments in support of ethicalegoism:
Altruism is demeaning.
Acting selfishly creates a betterworld.
It doesnt result in such a differentworld after all.
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Altruism Is Demeaning
Friedrich Nietzsche and otherphilosophers argued thataltruism was demeaningbecause it meant that an
individual was saying thatsome other person was moreimportant than thatindividual. Nietzsche sawthis as denigrating oneself,putting oneself down byvaluing oneself less than theother. This, the heart ofaltruism, is demeaning inNietzsches eyes.
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Acting Selfishly Creates a Better
World
Ethical egoists sometimes maintain that ifeach person took care of himself/herself,the overall effect would be to make the
world a better place for everyone. Epistemological: Each person is best suited to
know his or her own best interests.
Moral: Helping others makes them dependent,which ultimately harms them.
Reply: this justification ultimately appeals toutilitarian principles, not the principles ofethical egoism.
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Ethical egoism doesnt result in such a
different world after all.
This argument presupposes the people in factalready act selfishly (i.e, psychologicalegoism) and are just pretending to bealtruistic.
If psychological egoism is true, then weshould admit its truth and get rid of ourhypocrisy.
Reply: it may not make a big difference in aworld of independent adults, but in a worldwith children and people at risk or in need,they would be put in further jeopardy.
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Criticisms of Ethical Egoism
Cannot be consistently universalized
But see Kalin: This works in sports.
Presupposes a world of strangersindifferent to one another.
Difficult to imagine love or even
friendship from the altruistsstandpoint.
Seems to be morally insensitive
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Universalizing Ethical Egoism
Can the ethical egoist consistently willthat everyone else follow the tenets ofethical egoism? It seems to be in ones self-interest to be
selfish oneself and yet get everyone else to act
altruistically (especially if they act for yourbenefit). This leads to individual ethicalegoism.
Some philosophers such as Jesse Kalin
have argued that in sports we consistentlyuniversalize ethical egoism: we intend towin, but we want our opponents to try ashard as they can!
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Ethical Egoism:
a philosophy for a world of strangers
Some philosophers have argued that
ethical egoism is, at best,
appropriate to living in a world ofstrangers that you do not care about.
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Ethical Egoism and Friendship
Can ethical egoists be good friends?
If friendship involves (among other
things) being concerned about otherpeople for their own sake, then thisseems something beyond the reach ofthe egoist.
Ethical egoists can help their friends ifthey believe there is a long-term payofffor doing so.
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Ethical Egoism and
Moral Sensitivity
Can the ethical egoist be sensitive tothe suffering of others?
Such sensitivity seems to presupposecaring about other people for their ownsake.
Moral sensitivity presupposes that the
suffering of others exerts a moral pullon the individualsomething that theethical egoist does not recognize.
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The Truths in Ethical Egoism
Sometimes self-interestmasquerades as altruism
Ethics should not deny theimportance of self-interest
Self-love is a virtue, but it is not the
only virtue Ethical egoism mistakes apart of the picture for the wholepicture
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AristotleTocquevilles
Self-interest rightly understood
Egoism, Altruism, andthe Ideal World
Ideally, we seek a society in
which self-interest and regard
for others convergethe green
zone.
Egoism at the expense of
others and altruism at the
expense of self-interest both
create worlds in which
goodness and self-regard are
mutually exclusivethe yellow
zone. No one want the red zone,
which is against both self-
interest and regard for others.
High
Altruism
Low
Egoism
Low
Altruism
High
Egoism
Self-sacrificingaltruism
Self-interest
at the expense
of others
Self-interest
and regardfor othersconverge
Not beneficial
either to self
or others
Kant
Hobbess
State of Nature,
Nietzsche?
Drug addiction
Alcoholism, etc.
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