Feinberg Psychological Egoism Essay

There are four types of egoism (ETHICAL EGOISM). The first is Psychological egoism and it is the view that humans are always motivated by self-interest. An example of this is …….. The second is Ethical egoism. This is when you should do something that is in your own self-interest. An example of this is performing a task for someone because you are getting paid to do it. Third is Individual ethical egoism. It states that everyone should act in their own best self-interest. An example of this is a policeman. He/she believes that they should do what is in their best interest just because of their role in society. Finally there is Universal ethical egoism. It states that everyone should always act in their own best self-interest, regardless of the interests of others, unless their interests

Psychological egoism is the interpretation that humans are always inspired by self-interest, even in what seem to be acts of altruism. It claims that, when people choose to help others, they do so ultimately because of the personal benefits that they themselves expect to obtain, directly or indirectly, from doing so. Psychological egoism, which was widely recognized by psychologists and philosophers states that all human actions are motivated by selfish needs to benefit themselves. According to psychological egoists true altruism does not exist because the consequence of such an act leads to an increase in personal happiness. However, Joel Feinberg does not agree with that theory and in his essay he disagreed with the thesis that altruism

Its highest virtue is selflessness. Egoism, or selfishness, is the devotion to acting for one’s own well-being. To some degree someone can act in ways that benefit both themselves and others, but they would only have a single motive for their efforts. An individual can work for them self but with helping others in mind. Those are the particular capitalists that utilize the markets for profits then give some too much of their accumulated wealth in philanthropy are an example. Folks can work for them self and only benefit others when it serves to help them self. These would be the greedy capitalists. Opposed to each of these, an individual can just work for them self, and perhaps their family, then leave society to itself. Certainly, acting with the salvation of others in mind will be more socially responsible. A selfish person is the kind of person I believe society does not want to exist. The completely anti-social person would not reap any benefits of society, but they would not contribute to nor experience its deficits either.

Selfishness is a disease of the soul that every person experiences several times throughout their life. To say that selfishness has never been experienced would be hypocrisy. To say that selfishness is a beneficial trait would be erroneous. Although as humans we lie to ourselves, there is no question that selfishness can make any person a fool. Being selfish consumes us and changes us into someone we are not. Whether it leads to getting people killed, losing love, or abolishing families, selfishness always leads to destruction.

There are two basic kinds of egoism, there is ethical egoism and there is psychological egoism. These two different forms of egoism are different because ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that what is moral is to be done in self-interest. This is different from psychological egoism which states specifically that people will only act in their own self-interest. Ethical egoism is broken up into two forms. There is act egoism and Rule egoism. Act egoism says

David Shoemaker provides two theories of egoism in the text--psychological theory and ethical theory. Psychological egoism is the claim that all actions are done solely for the sake of one’s own self-interest. Ethical egoism simply states that all actions ought to be done for the sake of one’s own self interests. Shoemaker elaborates stating ethical egoism is the more attractive theory.

     The descriptive claim made by Psychological Egoists is that humans, by nature, are motivated only by self-interest. Any act, no matter how altruistic it may seem on the outside is actually only a disguise for a selfish desire such as recognition, avoiding guilt, reward or sense of personal ‘goodness’ or morality. For example, Mother Teresa is just using the poor for her own long-term spiritual gain. Being a universal claim, it could falter with a single counterexample. And being that I believe this claim to be bunk I will tell you why!

“Egoism is the normative idea that each person ought to pursue his or her own self-interest exclusively” (Rachels 77). In other words, what makes one’s actions moral is if they are acting in their own self-interest only. It is the radical view that states that one’s only duty is to promote one’s own self-interest. This theory does not suggest that one should act in their own interest as well as others best interest, but, according to Rachels, there is only one principle to follow and that

Psychological Egoism is a descriptive claim that humans by nature are selfish and their actions are motivated by some kind of selfish desire (Kay, 1997) .

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.

The theory of psychological egoism is indeed plausible. The meaning of plausible in the context of this paper refers to the validity or the conceivability of the theory in question, to explain the nature and motivation of human behavior (Hinman, 2007). Human actions are motivated by the satisfaction obtained after completing a task that they are involved in. For example, Mother Teresa was satisfied by her benevolent actions and activities that she spent her life doing. As Hinman (2007) points out, she was likely to reduce in activity if she experienced any dissatisfaction in her endeavors.

A moral egoist would say that there is no definite way to tell what a person is thinking before they commit to an action. There is no scientific or psychological evidence proving this “fact”, that all people’s actions are truly selfish. Feinberg says, “Not only is this presence of pleasure (satisfaction) as a by-product of an action no proof that the action was selfish…the fact that we get pleasure from a particular action presupposes that we desired something else-something other than our own pleasure…” ()This means that when people carry out an action, their initial intentions are not to seek self-pleasure but some other feeling instead. Doing something and receiving satisfaction is just a positive consequence to the act in the first place. There is no real way to determine whether the action was intentionally done to receive pleasure. For example, people that donate anonymously to charities can’t really be considered selfish. By them being anonymous, they aren’t donating for the admiration; therefore, they must’ve sought out a different feeling. Feinberg writes, “Every voluntary act is prompted by the agent’s own motives.” This statement is ambiguous and can have multiple meanings. A psychological egoist

In comparison, each of these theories calls for a narrow-minded focus on one person, which does not leave room to practice humanity for all. By thinking only the self, there is not room for personal or cultural growth and necessary tolerance to advance societal cooperation. Ethical egoism is an inconsistent theory as it lacks the ability to be considered a “moral” theory because it is not applicable to ALL human beings. Therefore, Egoism lies in the underbelly of ethical theory for practioners find it necessary to carry on their unpopular belief in secret. Lying, deception and dishonesty is not tenant of any moral theory so Egoism is inconsistent.

The Consequentialist theory of Ethical Egoism sets out to prove that the morally right action is one that aims to maximise one’s own self-interest. The moral theory runs on the premise that the principle of self-interest accounts for all one’s moral obligations, therefore one ought to act in their own self-interest. This essay will provide three arguments for Ethical Egoism, and argue that they do not succeed in proving Ethical Egoism is sufficiently coherent and consistent when applied as a moral theory everyone should follow in the real world.

Selfishness means acting in one's rational self-interest. Contrary to popular opinion, all healthy individuals are selfish. Choosing to pursue the career of your choice is selfish. Choosing to have children—or not to have children—is selfish. Insisting on freedom and individual rights, rather than living under a dictatorship, is selfish. Indeed, even ordinary behaviors such as breathing, eating and avoiding an oncoming car when crossing the street are selfish acts. Without selfishness, none o f us would survive the day—much less a lifetime.