What Are The Four Arguments Against Ethical Egoism

216 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Egoism theory ethics

Ethical egoism tells us what we are morally required and forbidden to do (Ethical Egoism 106). One should be selfish when it comes to this theory because it is about you; you should not consider how others would feel from taking a certain action. Someone might be thinking to him or herself how someone is feeling because they’re trying to get something from them. Within Ethical Egoism, the four arguments are called The Self Reliance Argument, The Prisoners Dilemma, The Argument from Paradigm Cases, and The Libertarian Argument. These arguments rebuttal how Ethical Egoism cannot be true. On the other side, there are arguments that support Ethical Egoism to be true, such as Natural Law Theory and The Best Argument for Ethical Egoism. Natural

Show More
Related

  • Egoism And Moral Skepticism Analysis

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most people agree with the quote “sometimes you have to do what’s best for you

    Read More

  • Theme Of Selfishness In Hunters In The Snow

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    Selfishness is a common trait in the world, it’s not a hidden factor, but very well-known as being one’s self-interest. The story “Hunters in the Snow” by Tobias Wolff, discusses how each character in the story deals with different kinds of selfish ways. One character, Tub, deals with eating problems and lies about it. Frank deals with a secret life that he is hiding from his wife. Kenny is always comparing something to his liking and if he does not like it then he will complain. Self-absorption is when someone is focused on their self and only themselves. It is known to be a regular’s human’s condition, it’s something majority of human beings have. Selfishness may also kick in during survival incidents. For example, a boy and his friends

    Read More

  • Egoism Vs Altruism

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    We have studied the two major theories that answer the question, “who should I be?”. These theories are egoism and altruism. In this paper, I will argue that the correct moral theory lies in-between the theories of egoism and altruism.

    Read More

  • Ethics Of Cheating

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    An ethical egoist could argue that we have an obligation to cheat. Ethical egoists maintain the belief that we should act selfishly. We should do things that we believe in our self-interest, which is our own genuine interest. Egoist would cheat to benefit themselves, they believe that their own interest receives much more weight than everyone else’s interest. Egoist realize that we are solely responsible for their own lives, therefore if cheating would benefit their lives then cheating is acceptable. If we did not cheat it would bring possible misfortune to our lives.

    Read More

  • Kantian Ethics and Autonomous Vehicle Programming

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    Notably, Ayn Rand held this view. “This holds that people should do or ought to do what is in their (long term) self-interest” (Eby 3). Some advocates of normative ethical egoism find it unethical to require a sacrifice of self-interest through the belief that this hinders freedom and initiative. Applying this theory to the autonomous vehicle scenario, the car would save the driver and passengers at all cost. In this case, the driver would regard their own life so highly that they disregard the injury their actions would cause others. A self-driving car acting out of the same self-interest theory would be programmed to hit the group of pedestrians, so long as it guarantees the survival of the vehicle and its

    Read More

  • Egoism in Crime and Punishment

    423 Words  | 1 Pages

    An egocentric attitude can be seen in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.  Dostoyevsky's young Raskolnikov is staggeringly arrogant.  Raskolnikov commits a murder and a failed robbery in the story.  His journey in overcoming his ego can be seen through his initial crime, denial of failure, and acceptance of mistakes.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Ethical Egoism And Utilitarianism

    1135 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ethical egoism is arbitrary and puts ourselves above everybody else for no apparent reason. Ethical egoism splits everybody into two groups, ourselves and everyone else, and says that we are the morally superior. This brings up the question, why are we, ourselves, morally superior to everyone else? Failing to answer this question, means that the ethical egoist has no rational reason to choose ourselves over anybody else. So, with similar rational, it could just have been that everyone else is morally superior to ourselves. The ethical egoist seems to be completely arbitrary in this decision. This theory doesn’t even know why it is putting us, ourselves, above everybody else. One can compare this to a racist who says white people are more superior to blacks (Rachels). Several decades ago they would rationally argue that blacks are intellectually inferior and a threat to the world peace but today there is substantial amount of evidence to refute these claims. Now the racist has no reasons for the racial discriminations and white people and black people are equal, meaning that being racially against black people is arbitrary and has no rational reasoning. Indeed, ethical egoism is just as arbitrary as racism is, but once again, utilitarianism

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Ethical Egoism

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    In other words, ethical egoism states that there are objective moral facts and an action is morally good if and only if it promotes my personal happiness and it is morally wrong if and only if that action hinders my personal happiness. Apart from Ethical Egoism there is another topic to be known clearly, it is called Psychological Egoism. Psychological Egoism It is the claim that each person, in fact, pursues his/her own happiness.

    Read More

  • Egoism And Ethical Egoism

    2219 Words  | 5 Pages

    • Once more, the ordinary science’ proves itself as the master of classification, inventing and defining the various categories of Egoism. Per example, psychological egoism, which defines doctrine that an individual is always motivated by self-interest, then rational egoism which unquestionably advocates acting in self-interest. Ethical egoism as diametrically opposite of ethical altruism which obliges a moral agent to assist the other first, even if sacrifices own interest. Also, ethical egoism differs from both rational and psychological egoism in ‘defending’ doctrine which considers all actions with contributive beneficial effects for an acting individual

    Read More

  • Rachel's Three Defense Of Ethical Egoism

    673 Words  | 2 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.

    Read More

  • Psychological Egoism

    1383 Words  | 3 Pages

    Psychological Egoism is a claim that one’s own welfare is the governing aim that guides us in every action. This would mean that every action and decisions humans make come with an intention for self-benefit, and personal gain. The fundamental idea behind psychological egoism is that our self-interest is the one motive that governs human beings. This idea may be so deep within our morals and thought process that although one may not think selfishly, the intention of their action is representing to a degree of personal gains.

    Read More

  • Psychological and Ethical Egoism

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Psychological egoism, a descriptive claim about human nature, states that humans by nature are motivated only by self-interest. To act in one's self-interest is to act mainly for one's own good and loving what is one's own (i.e. ego, body, family, house, belongings in general). It means to give one's own interests higher priority then others'. "It (psychological egoism) claims that we cannot do other than act from self-interest motivation, so that altruism-the theory that we can and should sometimes act in favor of others' interests-is simply invalid because it's impossible" (Pojman 85). According to psychological egoists, any act no matter how altruistic it might seem, is actually motivated by some selfish desire of the agent (i.e., desire for reward, avoidance of guilt, personal happiness).

    Read More

  • Egoism Vs Utilitarianism

    219 Words  | 1 Pages

    In my opinion, I agree with the deontological argument that “some acts, regardless of their consequences, are always wrong”. Although for me, both the people who perform an act and the consequences of an act, have the same relevance and importance for the world in general. Now, even bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary to stop the war, the utilitarian and ethical egoist arguments do not morally justified the act because they are not taking care of everyone, instead they are just thinking in their own benefits and interests. Utilitarians take care of the society in general, but they are capable of scarifying and killing people in order to achieve the overall good and organization. On the other hand, the ethical egoists just focus on

    Read More

  • Ethical Theories: Egoistic Theories and Psychological Egoism

    1857 Words  | 4 Pages

    The problem with ethical egoism is that it doesn’t match our common sense morality, this can be explained by the following: Normally, people decide which moral theory is right depending on their moral intuitions and on their ethical judgments and in return,...

    Read More

  • Self-Interest

    1184 Words  | 3 Pages

    Selfishness, although related to self-interest, has important differences. A major difference between selfishness and self-interest is that selfishness while helping oneself may also hurt others. A person becomes rude and selfish when they do not pay attention to anyone but themselves. Selfishness is best shown when a person has responsibilities such as children and family to take care of. Yet, ignores those responsibilities and only focuses on themselves. Selfishness is shown when others are willing to ruin relationship through fights of money. This can easily be seen when the young athlete is suing their parents for stealing their money. This can also be seen on any of the court television shows where p...

    Read More

More about What Are The Four Arguments Against Ethical Egoism

Open Document