Ethical Egoism

Question 1

What is ethical egoism?

Answer 1

An ethical theory that claims moral agents should do what is in their own self-interest; an action is morally right if it maximises one’s self-interest

Question 2

Is EE normative or meta-ethical?

Answer 2

normative

Question 3

What is a person’s duty?

Answer 3

Themselves and their own interests

Question 4

Is God needed in EE?

Answer 4

No it is a non-religious ethical theory

Question 5

Give a real case in which people were not altruistic?

Answer 5

2017 - teenagers recorded and mocked Jamel Dunn as he drowned rather than helping

Question 6

What is altruism?

Answer 6

Actions that ae motivated by a desire for the well-being of another person, even at one’s own personal cost

Question 7

Why does Rand believe that altruism is destructive?

Answer 7

It treats an individual’s life as a disposable commodity. People only have one life but altruism calls us to sacrifice it for others which devalues the individual. Egoism is the only way to ensure that your life is valued

Question 8

Who believes that altruism is destructive?

Answer 8

Rand

Question 9

Should we avoid helping others?

Answer 9

No - sometimes helping others will be a side effect of something we do in our own interest

Question 10

What is psychological egoism?

Answer 10

A descriptive theory that proposes that people naturally act out of self-interest

Question 11

Give an example of an act which may seem altruistic but has benefitted the individual?

Answer 11

Tom Moore’s walks during Covid-19 raised a lot of money but they also kept him busy and reached a personal goal

Question 12

Who proposed the idea that we are motivated by self interest? In what book? With which character?

Answer 12

Plato / Book II of The Republic // Glaucon

If there are two rings which make someone invisible and one was given to a virtuous person, and another was given to a criminal, both would act in their own self-interest

Question 13

How is acting in our own-self interests different from hedonism?

Answer 13

Hedonism involves seeking pleasure in the moment which could include binge drinking on a night out. However, it is necessarily in their self-interest to do this as it may be self-destructive, putting their health and safety at risk

Question 14

How is self-interest more than simple selfishness?

Answer 14

To act in self-interest is to act in a way that benefits the self while recognising that others will do the same. Someone acting in self interest would take one apple from the shelf whereas someone acting selfishly would take all the apples

Question 15

What might a person need to balance when making moral decisions?

Answer 15

They may need to weigh their short-term self-interest against their long-term self-interest. A person should balance the pleasure or benefit that they may receive in the present with the consequences they will experience in the future

Question 16

What did Rand call supporters of altruism?

Answer 16

Parasites and moochers

Question 17

Who believed that the freedom promised by religion is a ‘spook’ or illusion?

Answer 17

Max Stirner

Question 18

Why was Stirner hostile towards religion?

Answer 18

Religions like Christianity seem to provide freedom but the do not really mean it. They require an individua to be constrained or shackled by duty to their faith. The freedom promised by religion is a ‘spook’.

Question 19

Who believes that those who are unselfish and act in accordance with obligations to others are weak and do belong to themselves?

Answer 19

Stirner

Question 20

How is egoism more about self-rule?

Answer 20

There are many thing which a person may appear to freely choose but actually control them and limit their freedom e.g religion, material possessions
Stirner believes that a person should have eigenheit which involves being in complete control of one’s own decisions rather than being controlled by something else. Stirner values ownness or self-rule as the most important good, which is superior to everything else and is completely incompatible with any obligation to anyone or anyone else

Question 21

What is eigenheit?

Answer 21

Ownness; Stirner’s word for complete moral control over one’s own decisions

Question 22

What are the implications of being taught that we are all equals?

Answer 22

We become depersonalised and it sets on us certain obligations which we must obey. The ‘I’ becomes abstract and lost

Question 23

What is a union of egoists?

Answer 23

It includes individuals forming temporary relationships and alliances while remaining independent and self-determining. There is no loyalty or obligation, just self-serving enjoyment in the moment. Individuality is all that is important

Question 24

3 arguments for EE?

Answer 24

1. Altruism is self-defeating
2. Ayn Rand’s argument
3. EE is compatible with common sense morality

Question 25

3 arguments against EE?

Answer 25

1. EE endorses wickedness 2. EE is logically inconsistent 3. EE is unacceptably arbitrary

Question 26

Why is altruism self-defeating?

Answer 26

- We are more familiar with our needs and interests, and know know how pursue them. We do not have this familiarity with other's needs and may do more harm than good when trying to help others - The policy of "looking out for others" is an offensive intrusion into other people's privacy - Making other people the object of one's "charity" is degrading to them If each person looks after their own interests, everyone will be better off

Question 27

Counter argument to the argument that altruism is self-defeating

Answer 27

- are people’s self respect really deprived when we help them? - the reason why we should adopt seemingly egotistic policies is unegotistic. By adopting policies which will promote the betterment of society, the ultimate principle is beneficence

Question 28

What is Ayn Rand’s argument for EE?

Answer 28

She argues that altruism is destructive and leads to the denial of the value of the individual. It reduces a person’s life to something that can be sacrificed. EE is the only ethics that takes seriously the reality of the individual person

Question 29

Why is Ayn Rand's argument for EE problematic?

Answer 29

It assumes that we only have two choices: either we accept altruism (which she depicts as an insane doctrine) or EE. This is not a fair picture of the choices. The commonsense view stands between these two extremes - it says that one's own interests and the interests of others are both important and must be balanced alongside each other. There is a middle ground

Question 30

How is EE compatible with commonsense morality?

Answer 30

Ordinary morality consists in obeying certain rules but EE could say that all these rules are ultimately derived from the one fundamental principle of self-interest. EE can provide explanations of some duties - the duty not to harm others - if we harm others then others may be inclined to harm us and we may be punished - the duty not to lie - if we lie to others then we will have a bad reputation and people will avoid us and be dishonest with us - the duty to keep our promises - it is to our own advantage to enter into mutually beneficial arrangements with others and rely others which is possible when we keep our promises Hobbes believed that EE leads to the Golden Rule: we should "do unto others" because if we do, others will be more likely to "do unto us"

Question 31

Who said that EE leads to the golden rule?

Answer 31

Thomas Hobbes

Question 32

What are the problems with the argument that EE is compatible with common-sense morality?

Answer 32

- It does not prove as much as it needs to. It only shows that it is mostly to one's advantage to avoid harming others but there are some situations where EE cannot explain why must not do the horrible act. Therefore, some of our moral obligations cannot be derived from self-interest - Doing things because they are to our own advantage is not always the only reason to do so. There could be other reasons e.g help the starving people

Question 33

3 arguments against EE?

Answer 33

1. EE endorses wickedness 2. EE is logically inconsistent 3. EE is unacceptably arbitrary

Question 34

How does EE endorse wickedness?

Answer 34

It is possible to argue that a person could benefit from wicked actions e.g a paramedic giving emergency patients injections of sterile water rather than morphine, so he could sell the morphine.

Question 35

Why might the argument that EE endorses wickedness be unfair?

Answer 35

In saying that some actions are wicked, we are appealing to a non-egotistic conception of wickedness

Question 36

How is EE logically inconsistent?

Answer 36

Baier believes that EE leads to contradictions. Example: D and R are both running for president so it is in D's interests to kill R but it is in R's interests to live and become president. When R protects themselves from D their act is right because it is their duty and interest to survive but this prevents R from doing their duty One and the same act cannot be both morally wrong and not morally wrong

Question 37

Who believes that EE is logically inconsistent?

Answer 37

Kurt Baier

Question 38

What is the problem with Baier's argument that EE is logically inconsistent?

Answer 38

Baier assumes that it is wrong to prevent someone from doing their duty. An ethical egoist would never say this. They would say that whether one ought to prevent someone from doing their duty depends entirely on whether it would be to one's own advantage to do so

Question 39

How is EE unacceptably arbitrary?

Answer 39

There are many moral views which divide people into groups and say that the interests of one group counts more than the interests of other groups e.g racism, sexism and nationalism. Using the principle of equal treatment, there are no relevant differences to justify differences in treatment. EE advocates that we divide the world into two categories - ourselves and everyone else - and that we regard our own interests as more important than anyone else's. There is no adequate answer to the question "what makes me so special?". If we can find no relevant difference between ourselves and others then we must admit that if our needs should be met then so should theirs

Question 40

What is the strength of the argument that EE is unacceptably arbitrary?

Answer 40

It provides insight into why the interests of other people should matter to us

Question 41

What is the principle of equal treatment? Give an example of how treating people in the same way does not always mean ensuring the same outcome for them

Answer 41

We should treat people in the same way unless there is a relevant difference between them. Draft lottery for the American Soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. A random date would be called out and all those born on that date between age 18-26 would be drafted