Psychological Egoism (Philosophy Paper)

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

The ego is the mediator between the id and the circumstances of the external world to aid their interaction. The ego represents reason in contrast to the id. Freud called the ego ich, which translates to English as “I”. The ego follows the reality principal. The ego does not exist independently of the id. The ego exists to help the id, and is constantly striving to bring about satisfaction of the id’s instincts. If the ego fails to keep a balance with the id and superego, a person may have difficulty

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

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.

Ego was symbolized as a “Man’s self mind or the conceptual faculty of reasoning” (Ayn Rand). The conceptual faculty of reason was what lead to a man's emotions. In seeing one’s own actions it gave motivation and goals to the individual. However, “Egoism should be distinguished from egotism, which means a psychological overvaluation of one’s own importance, or of one’s own activities”(Alexander Moseley).

There is a fine line with this theory. Psychological egoism states that humans cannot help being selfish and that they are "hard wired" or have no choice to be self-interested, it is just a part of human nature. Ayn Rand denfends ethical egosism and tells her audience to view it in a positive light since selfishness just really just another way of saying having concern with ones own interests and desires. One's self interests must be guided with reason in order to enhance their life as well as affecting society positively. She also believes that altruism weakens people and live off of others in order to get through life. These people become parasites and co-dependent individuals who have no purpose. I do side with ethical egoism since I believe we do need to be selfish in one sence to help motivate ourselves and put ourselves first to gain what we desire. There is a limit to selfish behavior and I do not intend for people to make the world entirely about themselves. In the narrative The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS, Joey and Phoebe fight over who is right about is

     Also, when a situation arises in which one must make a split decision, does the psychological egoist expect a human to deliberate whether the action is in their self-interest or not? For example, if I see my child run out onto a busy street and I can see that if I run out and grab her I can save her life and if I do not, my child will be squished by a speeding car. Do I, as the egoist would expect, take the time to deliberate that saving my child will result in all kinds of good for both her and I? No, I rush out and grab her in an instant and the good comes later. Now of course it is true that we sometimes get satisfaction and/or good feelings from acting unselfishly, but it would be a post hoc fallacy to say that we perform unselfish acts solely for the sake of that satisfaction. Also, self-interest and an interest for the welfare of others can certainly be bedfellows, and not strange ones. Using the shopkeeper example, he could opt never cheat his customers simply because he knows that honesty is good for business. He could cheat his customers and make a boatload of money, but he knows that it is wrong to cheat and lie to people – it hurts them, is unfair and may make him feel guilty. So, self-interest or selfishness is not

That is their essential ethical principle. Finally, there is the hypothetical egoist, who argues that all individuals ought to pursue their own interests if they are looking for coming to a specific end. In a way, that type of egoist is not an actual egoist; he is rather a utilitarian who believes that happiness for all can be enhanced if each person looks out after his own self.

“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.

Descriptive egoism holds that for each individual, there is only one ultimate aim survival and the betterment of the sole individual based on their own hierarchical principles.

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