module 6: Ethical Egoism Flashcards
Psychological Egoism
-descriptive theory about human psychology
- claims that human beings are always going to act in ways that are self interested
-makes strong claim that we are by nature entirely motivated by our self interest
Ethical Egoism
-makes a normative claim
- argues that we should or ought to act in ways that always seek to maximize out self interest
Difference between Psychological Egoism and Ethical Egoism
the difference is that Psychological Egoism makes a claim about how things are whereas Ethical Egoism makes a claim about how things should be and how we should behave
altruism
is the selfless concern for the well-being of others
involves putting the interests of others first in that it asserts that you can act unselfishly
If Psychological Egoism is true would altruism be possible
psych eg would argue we might seem to be acting in a selfless supererogatory way, we actually aren’t which seems wrong
Argument form for Psychological Egoism
argument 1: We always do what we want to do
P1: every act one has performed was performed because that person wanted something
P2: if an act is motivated y wanting something then the act is egoistic
C1: Therefore, every act we do is ultimately egoistic
C2: Therefore Psych. Eg is true
if point 1 is true then even if acts appear altruistic we should interpret the acts as exclusively motivated by self interest (P2)
The truth of Psych eg is deduced from claims 1 and 2
Argument 1 critique
2 reasons to think that this argument is implausible:
- there are things we do, not because we want to do them, but because we believe there are other compelling reasons to do them
- we are sometimes motivated to act out of duty, which is not always compatible with “what we want”
eg. inconvenient promise keeping as an act resulting from conscience or feelings duty
Ergo PE is undermined by the fact that we dont always do what we want. Our acts aren’t always motivated by what we want (what we take to be in our self interest)
response to critique
- even if we are required to do something we ultimately wouldn’t do that thing if we really did not want to
- the response indicates that we ultimately always do what we want, even in situations where we believe we have do something
response to defense of PE
- the response seems to appeal to a more rudimentary and trivial kind of wanting
- what seems to be at stake in PE is the content of the wanting not the mere act of wanting
- for instance we can “want” to do self interested or dutiful and altruistic things
-the fact that we do what we want does not entail that PE is true because even if we follow our desires it does not entail that we act out of self interest (argument 1 is invalid) - there are desires which are geared toward serving others, then they are altruistic and not egoistic
Argument 2: We always do what makes us feel good
- every action, even those which are “allegedly” altruistic, produce a sense of self-satisfaction in those who perform those actions
- feeling good is a self-interested motivation
-actions that appear unselfish are actually done for the self interested ends of feeling good about oneself
formalized argument 2
P1: we do things including altruistic actions because they produce a sense of self satisfaction
P2: if we act because those actions produce a sense of self satisfaction then such actions are done in our self interest
C: Therefore all actions even altruistic ones are pursued for the exclusive self-interest of the person acting. Ergo PE is true
Argument 2 critique
asks is it true that we act solely because it makes us feel good
- here we might ask whether altruistic actions are always pursued for the sake of self satisfaction
-saving someone drowning immediate motivator is fear not self satisfaction
- feeling good about saving someones life as a by product not a motivator for altruistic actions
critique 2
asks can the truth of psychological egoism be inferred from the fact that we do what makes us feel good
-the fact that we do things that make us feel good does not mean that we do not have other motives as well
- you can be motivated by something not aligned with your self interest
How does the falsity of Psych. eg make Ethical eg more plausible
- Ethical Egoism wants to make a claim that you “ought to” do what is in your REAL self interest
- To instruct that one ought to do something, it must be possible that people can or cannot do that thing (pursue self interest). To be required to do something it must be possible that you would not do that thing
- Ergo, to guide moral behaviour, Ethical Egoism has to assume that it is sometimes possible that people do not pursue their self interest
- Ought implies can. To morally require someone to act in their self interest it must be possible for them to choose not to
Therefore for Ethical Egoism to be able to guide human actions PE must be false
Perceived Self interest
what you think is in your best interest
- however what we think is in our best interest is not actually in our best interest
eg. smoking
Real self-interest
is an objective fact about what is good for us
-based on doing what is good for you on the whole
-you can be altruistic only if it aligns with or furthers your own real self interest
Arguments for Ethical Egoism
- Altruism is self defeating
- Ayn Rands argument for why we should accept Ethical Egoism
- Ethical Egoism is compatible with common sense morality
Argument 1: Altruism is Self Defeating
P1: we ought to do whatever will best promote everyones interests
P2: The best way to promote everyones interests is for each of us to pursue our own interests exclusively (more effective)
C: Therefore, each of us should pursue our self interest exclusively
According to this argument:
Everyone is aware of their respective needs and wants and no one is more uniquely placed than you to pursue your real self interest effectively
Therefore looking out for others is self defeating because doing so ends up doing more harm to others. Ergo everyone should only pursue their own self interest
Evaluation of Premise 1
argument 1 seems to just be an argument stating that we ought to be altruists using the pursuit of self interest as a means
- where Ethical Egoism needs to treat “real self interest” as an end, this argument treats self interest as means to an altruistic end
- this positions of altruism as the moral good we are pursuing, not self interest
- this is therefore not a good argument for Ethical Egoism
Evaluation of Premise 2
- we do not always know what is best for ourselves so this might not guarantee that making everyone pursue their self interest will result in the promotion of everyones interest
- the practice of helping challenges this premise eg. individuals struggling with addiction needing rehabilitation
- not everyone is best positioned to promote their own self interest therefore premise 2 is not true
Argument 2: Ayn Rands argument for why we should accept Ethical Egoism
P1: Each person only has one life. If we value the individual we must agree that the individuals life is of supreme importance
P2: The ethics of altruism regards the life of the individual as something to be sacrificed for the good of others
C1: therefore the ethics of altruism doesn’t take the value of the individual seriously in requiring sacrifice
C2: Ethical Egoism does allow each person to view their own life as having supreme importance
C3: Therefore we should accept Ethical Egoism
this essentially argues that altruism is harmful because it undermines the value of the individual by requiring you to divert investment and attention away from your own life. For Rand EE should be appealing because it respects the life of the individual as sacrosanct
Ayn Rands argument critique
This argument suffers from a false dichotomy
-an argument fallacy where one provides two opposing options as the only viable options when there are other options available
-argument makes it appear as if we can only accept Absolute Altruism or absolute Ethical Egoism
Argument 3: Ethical Egoism is compatible with common sense morality
argues that Ethical Egoism is an attractive moral doctrine because all our commonly held moral rules can be said to arise from and are hence compatible with one fundamental moral principle of self interest
-this argument claims that Ethical Egoism is appealing because it aligns with our commonsense morality (CMJ)
-A lot of commonly held moral rules and duties are explained by the ethical position that we ought to pursue our self interest exclusively
Consider the moral rule that we ought not to harm others
- ethical egoist would say that this rule can be explained by the more fundamental moral principle that we ought to pursue and protect our self interest exclusively
- ethical egoism is considered to explain and systematize the array of ordinary moral rules and CMJ
