What Is Egoism?

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

Overall, deontology is based upon not just by following universal rules or performing what is ought to do, but by respecting human beings as rational beings as well. Deontology judges the ethical motive of an action not by its consequences, merely by the reasoning behind it.

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.

The first argument in favour of psychological egoism is that because people always do what they most want to do (act on their strongest desire), it follows that they always act selfishly. The psychological egoist would argue that in describing a man’s action as unselfish, we are over-looking the fact that this action is done voluntarily, and that “the agent is merely doing what he most wants to do.” If Smith stays behind to help his friend, that only shows that he wanted to help his friend more than he wanted to go to the country” (159). Rachels suggests that the argument is flawed in that it simply assumes that people only do things that they want to do,

It is defined as “the habit of valuing everything only in reference to one's personal interest; selfishness” (Dictionary.com, “Egoism”). Therefore, one could judge one as acting on self-interest only, but at the core, it is looking out for what is right and is the best possible decision on each other’s needs individually. One could say that I want insurance and have the funds to manage while others do not want insurance or do not have the available funds. It should be individualized to meet everyone’s needs on an individual basis. One can view Egoism with government protected rights as equaling out to the value of

     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

“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

Egoism: is a theory of ethics that focuses on achieving goals that benefit or brings pleasure or greatest good to oneself. In other words it focuses on self-interest, however egoism is opposite to Altruism, which is not strictly based on self-interest, but also includes the interest of others. There are two kinds of Egoism; Ethical Egoism, Psychological Egoism.

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.

2. Egoism is the consequentialist theory that an action is right when it promotes the individual’s best interests. Proponents of this theory base their view on the alleged fact that human beings are, by nature, selfish (the doctrine of psychological egoism). Critics of egoism argue that (a) psychological egoism is

There is a certain innate desire to help others, just as others will feel that same fulfillment for returning that aid. At the same time, however, there is also an inherent yearning to seek out one’s own best interest. This brings about a discussion regarding the difference between psychological egoism and ethical egoism. To understand the similarities and differences, one must first understand the two concepts including their natures, as well as their doctrines of motivation.

Without a distinct framework, ethical egoism fails as a moral theory to assist moral decision making because it endorses the animalistic nature of humanity, fails to provide a viable solution to a conflict of interest, and is proved to be an evolutionary unstable moral strategy.

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