Rachel's Three Defense Of Ethical Egoism

673 Words2 Pages

1.) Rachels offers three defenses of Ethical Egoism, one being, That Altruism Is Self-Defeating. Altruism or selflessness is the principle or practice of concern or welfare of others. Rachels states that we are more self-aware of our own wants and needs, and that we imperfectly know the wants, needs, and desires of others; so in helping others, we would not be beneficial because we would end up doing more harm than good in the long run because we are not self-aware of our neighbor’s needs. Rachels also states that “looking out for others” is an invasion of others privacy. On the other hand, when Rachels states that altruism is self-defeating, he is also referring to making other people the object of ones “charity”, which can make people feel atrocious about themselves and also that they are not self-worthy to care for themselves. Ayn Rand’s Argument states that everyone only has one life and if we value that person, their life should be cherished because it is all one has. Rand also states that altruism is a destructive idea and it does not consider the value of an individual; one’s life can just …show more content…

Baier argues that Ethical Egoism cannot be correct and that it leads to contradictions, such as, that an action could both be wrong and not wrong at the same time. Rachels points out that when you actually lay out what Baier is stating, Baier has put his own assumption into the mix, why he thinks Ethical Egoism cannot be correct. Baier stated, “But it is wrong to prevent someone from doing his duty.” (Baier, p.76) This is Baier own assumption. Ethical Egoism would not say that it is always wrong to prevent someone from doing his duty, rather it would state, if it would be to one’s own best advantage to prevent someone from doing his duty, than do so. For these reasons Rachels states that Baiers argument that Ethical Egoism is logically inconsistent

Show More
Related

  • Altruism In Anthem By Ayn Rand

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    Children are taught the value in sharing, in ensuring that everyone is extended the same opportunities and the same kindness. Ayn Rand, however, had a different perspective. Her philosophy, called objectivism, favors morality that is based upon one’s own desires. Clearly, Rand by no means encouraged the citizens of every city to run amok in the streets, doing whatever they pleased, but she did believe that any man is responsible for himself and himself alone. Altruism is defined by a duty to others, and by the value in sacrificing oneself for the greater common good. Because this concept allows all of society an equal fighting chance, it is widely supported and well loved. Altruism is the go-to template for standup moral character: selfishness must never be practiced, think only of others, build your life around the lives around you, and so on. Objectivism runs in stark contrast to this, encouraging individuals to define their goals and adjust their behavior accordingly. Objectivism’s primary claim is that selfishness is, indeed, a positive thing, and that it brings about considerable success in

    Read More

  • Sally's Prescriptive Moral Theory

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...reserving the principle of autonomous decisions could be considered somewhat more plausible. Essentially the only fault being addressed is the conflicting action, as a conflict no longer occurs. Objections remain based on the inclusion of moral agents exclusively and the promoting of individual’s goals, while introducing the additional problem of self-interest that accompanies prominent autonomy. The theory remains at fault, as it cannot be adequately amended by a single change. Sally’s prescriptive moral theory “picks and choses” from other existing theories and combines them to make a hybrid theory. Doing so creates difficulties as the overlap reduces clarity and limits the strength of any individual argument. This is a challenge that cannot be overlooked; Sally’s theory fails to show structural reliability and is hence too problematic to have sound moral worth.

    Read More

  • Selfishness In Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1957, Ayn Rand published a novel called Atlas Shrugged. In it, she theorizes that “every man–is an end in himself, he exists for his own sake, and the achievement of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose.” She even states that “altruistic morality” is a disease. However, altruism has been proven to be a crucial part of human nature. This is not only limited to our evolutionary past, as recent studies show that, even from a young age, we tend to display altruistic behaviour when we see others in need of help.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Altruism And Egoism in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    By definition, altruism is "the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others". Through vigorous analysis, however, I have established it to be a complex ideology whose followers can be divided into three categories: slaves, abusers, and advocates. The slave abides by the ideals of 'pure' altruism. In other words, he does not act according to personal need or desire; humanity is all that matters. This is altruism in its purest form and is the branch of altruism which envelopes Catherine and allows her to feel a sense of purpose. Yet, much more common is the abuser of altruism. He is the altruist who ascertains and seizes any opportunity for personal gain by abusing the ostensibly philanthropic ideology. As ironic as this seems, it is common practice for one to proffer with the intention of receiving something in return. Peter Keating demonstrates how such an abuser manipulates altruism into a golden ladder by which he may reach success. Reigning over even the most conniving abuser is the omnipot...

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Ethical Egoism

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethical Egoism A rear assumption is that the needs and happiness of other people will always affect our moral ethics. If we accept this assumption, we think that our moral ethics balance our self-interest against that of others. It is true, that “What is morally right or wrong depends not only on how it makes us feel, but also how it affects others”. The idea that each person ought to pursue his or her own self-interest exclusively to do in his lifetime for others is known as Ethical Egoism.

    Read More

  • Egoism And Ethical Egoism

    2219 Words  | 5 Pages

    Ethical egoism is diametrically opposite to ethical altruism, which obliges a moral agent to assist the other first, even if he sacrifices his own interest. Further, researchers justify and rationalize the mental position of egoism versus altruism through an explanation that altruism is destructive for a society, suppressing and denying an individual value. Although the ‘modern’ age unsubtly supports swaggering egoistic behavior in the competitive arena such as international politics, commerce, and sport, in other ‘traditional’ areas of the prideful selfishness showing off, to considerable extent discourages visible disobedience from the prevalent moral codes. In some cases, the open pro-egoist position, as was, per example, the ‘contextual’ interpretation of selfishness by famous German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, can be described as a ‘grotesque anomaly’.

    Read More

  • Altruism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

    1318 Words  | 3 Pages

    One being the fact that this book is a collection of her essay and speeches. But the main one is how this book discusses her own Philosophy. She first explains the importance of philosophy and how it used in the real world unknowingly today, but she then says the philosophy most people follow today, Altruism, as irrational. “Altruism is the rationalization for the mass slaughter in Soviet Russia – for the legalized looting in the welfare state – for the power-lust of politicians seeking to serve the common good” (Rand 27) Altruism is basically the thought of having selfless actions and to serve others. This completely contradicts Ayn Rand’s philosophy of living, Objectivism. This is where the book becomes different form other books and even the entire world. Many people and religions are taught to help others. This follows Altruism in the fact that we are serving others and being selfless. Objectivism has many different layers to it but one of the most important parts to it is the concept that man should be self-serving. That we should be selfish and live for ourselves only under the condition that it doesn’t harm others. This is extremely different from everything we are taught since we were

    Read More

  • Selflessness And The Loss Of Self Analysis

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    As previously stated, there is a balance to be maintained between selflessness and selfishness. Logically speaking, you would always want to help people, but overexerting yourself to try and help them solve their problems, won’t really help anyone. These ideas are expressed in Selflessness and the Loss of Self (Hampton, Jean, and Daniel Farnham). The Intrinsic Worth of Persons: Contractarianism in Moral and Political Philosophy. New York: Cambridge UP, 2007.

    Read More

  • Hospers: Self-Interest And Selfishness

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the development of modern society, many people say that the society has become miserable, and people only care their own profit. The self-interest is becoming the object of attacking. Thereupon, when we mention self- interest, people always mix up the concept of self-interest with selfishness. As we all known, the idea of selfishness is, “Abusing others, exploiting others, using others for their own advantage – doing something to others.” (Hospers, 59) Selfish people have no ethics, morals and standards when they do anything. At the same time, what is self – interest? Self- interest can be defined as egoism, which means a person is, “looking out for your own welfare.” (Hospers, 39) The welfare people talk about is nothing more than

    Read More

  • Summary Of Susan Wolf The Meanings Of Lives

    1345 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even forms of human beings preforming selfless acts derives from ones desire to help others, which in a way makes that person feel importance. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, better known as Mother Teresa, devoted her life to helping those in great need. To many these acts may appear as selfless and gallant acts that are not performed by anyone with any type of ego. Yet when taking a psychological look at why she performed such acts they may appear a somewhat more for herself. Every time anyone does anything, even when for someone else, they are doing it for some type of feeling that they experience. With the holiday season approaching, there will be a specific emphasis on giving unlike any other time of the year. We give yes to show gratitude for someone we love, but also to experience the joy in seeing someone enjoy something they them self-caused. Even while being selfless humans have the unique ability to still be doing something that involves caring for them self. This outlook toward the human condition completely debunks Wolf’s claim that “when caring about yourself you are living as if you are the center of the universe.” When choosing to do anything positive or negative, for others or for yourself, you are still taking your self-interest into consideration, making it

    Read More

  • The Causes of Altruism

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    Before a case can be made for the causes of altruism, altruism itself must first be defined. Most leading psychologists agree that the definition of altruism is “a motivational state with the ultimate goal of increasing another’s welfare.” (Batson, 1981). The only way for a person to be truly altruistic is if their intent is to help the community before themselves. However, the only thing humans can see is the actions themselves, and so, selfish intent may seem the same as altruistic intent. Alas, the only way that altruism can be judged is if the intent is obvious. Through that, we must conclude that only certain intents can be defined as altruistic, and as intent stemming from nature benefits the group while other intent benefits yourself, only actions caused by nature are truly altruistic.

    Read More

  • Psychological and Ethical Egoism

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    For someone who believes in psychological egoism, i t is difficult to find an action that would be acknowledged as purely altruistic. In practice, altruism, is the performance of duties to others with no view to any sort of personal...

    Read More

  • Selfishness is the Key to Happiness Accordirng to Harry Browne

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    Selfishness is a term fairly notorious for its meaning. A lot of people accept that being selfish is wrong, but no one knows how this came about and why it matters. Who has the right to decide whether someone gets to be selfish or not? In his article “The unselfishness Trap”, Harry Browne says that the best way for people to be happy is when if everyone sacrifices but me. Thomas Nagel, on the other hand, argues in his article “The Objective Basis of Morality” that being concerned about others is more important. Being selfish, for many people, is evil. By definition, selfishness is to be more concerned about yourself than others, but that would essentially make every living human being a “selfish” being.

    Read More

  • The Ego and Its Own

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethical egoism can be a well-debated topic about the true intention of an individual when he or she makes an ethical decision. Max Stirner brings up a very intriguing perspective in writing, The Ego and its Own, regarding ethical egoism. After reading his writing some questions are posed. For example, are human beings at the bottom? Following Wiggins and Putnam, can we rise above our egoism and truly be altruistic? And finally, if we are something, do we have the capacity to rise to a level that we can criticize and transcend our nature? These questions try to establish whether or not we are simple humans, bound to our intrinsic nature, or far more intellectually advanced than we allow ourselves to be.

    Read More

  • Ethical Theories: Egoistic Theories and Psychological Egoism

    1857 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ethical egoism states that an act is good if and only if it serves self-interest. It is a normative theory holding that people ought to do what is in their self- interest

    Read More

More about Rachel's Three Defense Of Ethical Egoism

Open Document