Philosophy E166: Ethical Theory

1. Philosophy E166: Ethical Theory Week Three: Hobbes and Egoism

2. Rawls: Hobbes Thinks Humans “Self-Centered” • “the psychological makeup of human beings is largely, or predominantly, self-centered,” that “when people deliberate about basic political and social matters, they tend to give priority in their thought and action to their own preservation and security, to that of their families, and, to use his [Hobbes’s] phrase again, to ‘the means of a commodious life.’” (LHPP, p. 45.)

3. Rawls’s 1st Three Pieces of Evidence Hobbes Not a Psychological Egoist • nowhere in Leviathan does Hobbes say that psychological egoism is true or that people “pursue or care only about their own good.” • passages to show that Hobbes thought that people are capable of benevolence and affection for others (cf. Leviathan, chaps. 6, 30; pp. 40, 45). • a passage in chap. 15 of Leviathan, in which Hobbes seems to praise justice for its own sake: “That which gives to human actions the relish of justice is a certain nobleness or gallantness of courage, rarely found, by which a man scorns to be beholding for the contentment of his life to fraud, or breach of promise.”

4. Rawls’s Fourth Piece of Evidence • An interpretation of Leviathan, different from the ordinary one, according to which Hobbes in the book, while accepting the existence of non-egoistic motives, “is emphasizing certain aspects of human nature in ways that are suitable for his purposes…. His point is that one should not rely on these [non-egoistic] human capacities in an account of civil society and in the basis of social unity…. His view would then be that political institutions must be rooted in, and congenial to, certain fundamental interests: our interest first in preserving our life, then our interest in securing the good of those who are close to us …, and finally, our interest in acquiring the means of commodious life.” (LHPP, p. 46.)

5. Hobbes Contradicts Rawls: 1st Place • In Chapter 14 (Leviathan, p. 192), Hobbes writes: “Whensoever a man transferreth his right, or renounceth it, it is either in consideration of some right reciprocally transferred to himself, or for some other good he hopeth for thereby. For it is a voluntary act: and of the voluntary acts of every man, the object is some good to himself.”

6. Hobbes Contradicts Rawls: 2ndPlace • Hobbes goes on to argue that: “… there be some rights which no man can be understood by any words, or other signs, to have abandoned or transferred. As first a man cannot lay down the right of resisting them that assault him by force to take away his life, because he cannot be understood to aim thereby at any good to himself.”

7. Hobbes Contradicts Rawls: 3rdPlace • In Chapter 15 (Leviathan, p. 204), Hobbes writes: “that when the heir apparent of a kingdom shall kill him that is in possession, though his father, you may call it injustice, or by what other name you will; yet it can never be against reason, seeing all the voluntary actions of men tend to the benefit of themselves; and those actions are most reasonable that conduce most to their ends.”

8. Hobbes Contradicts Rawls: 4thPlace • Also in Chapter 15 (Leviathan, p. 209): • “For no man giveth but with intention of good to himself, because gift is voluntary; and of all voluntary acts, the object is to every man his own good.”

9. Hobbes Contradicts Rawls: 5thPlace • In Chapter 19 (Leviathan, p. 241): • “And though he be careful in his politic person to procure the common interest, yet he is more, or no less, careful to procure the private good of himself, his family, kindred and friends; and for the most part, if the public interest chance to cross the private, he prefers the private: for the passions of men are commonly more potent than their reason. From whence it follows that where the public and private interest are most closely united, there is the public most advanced.”

10. The 1st, 3rd and 4th Quotations • “of the voluntary acts of every man, the object is some good to himself”; • “all the voluntary actions of men tend to the benefit of themselves”; • “of all voluntary acts, the object is to every man his own good.”

11. Two Understandings of Psychological Egoism (1) People's actions are directly motivated only by their individual desires and aversions.   (2) People pursue or care only about their own good.

12. Hobbes on Benevolence and Affection • The existence of benevolence, good will and charity “desire of good to another,” he calls them – • and kindness – which he calls “love of persons for society,” • contrasting it with natural lust, “love of persons for pleasing the sense only.” (Leviathan, ch. 6, pp. 123-124.)

13. John Aubrey’s Anecdote • John Aubrey, who knew Hobbes well, writes in Brief Lives of Hobbes’s “brotherly love to his kindred…. He was very charitable to those that were true objects of his bounty. One time, I remember, going into the Strand, a poor and infirm old man craved his alms. He beholding him with eyes of pity and compassion, put his hands in his pocket, and gave him 6d. Said a divine (that is Dr Jasper Mayne) that stood by, ‘Would you have done this, if it had not been Christ's command?' 'Yes,' said he. 'Why?' said the other. 'Because,' said he, 'I was in pain to consider the miserable condition of the old man; and now my alms, giving him some relief, doth also ease me.’”

14. A Third Understanding of Psychological Egoism (1) People's actions are directly motivated only by their individual desires and aversions. (2) People pursue or care only about their own good. (3) The object of every voluntary act of every person is some good to himself or herself.

15. Hobbes on Public and Private • In Chapter 19 (Leviathan, p. 241):And though he be careful in his politic person to procure the common interest, yet he is more, or no less, careful to procure the private good of himself, his family, kindred and friends; and for the most part, if the public interest chance to cross the private, he prefers the private: for the passions of men are commonly more potent than their reason. From whence it follows that where the public and private interest are most closely united, there is the public most advanced.

16. The Grade Game • You and a partner each independently choose either an A-grade or a B-grade. • If both of you choose an ‘A’, each gets a ‘D’. • If both of you choose a ‘B’, each gets a ‘B’. • If one chooses ‘A’ and the other ‘B’, the former gets an ‘A’, the latter gets an ‘F’.

17. How will a self-interestedrational being behave in ordinary conditions? • If each is competitive and tries to get as much as possible of the resource (both choose an ‘A’), a fight will break out in which both will suffer and neither will win outright because they have equal power. So both get a ‘D’. • If each is cooperative and takes a modest amount of the resource (both choose a ‘B’), there’s enough for both. So both get a ‘B’. • If one tries to take all the resource and is not challenged (one chooses an ‘A’, the other a ‘B’), then the former gets what she wants and the latter is left without anything. So the former gets an ‘A’, the latter an ‘F’

18. The Paradox of Self Interest • Notice that whatever your partner does, it’s in your self-interest to choose an ‘A’: • Suppose she chooses an ‘A’. Then choosing a ‘B’ gets you an ‘F’, but choosing an ‘A’ gets you a ‘D’. So it is better to choose an ‘A’. • Suppose she chooses a ‘B’. Then choosing a ‘B’ gets you an ‘B’ but choosing an ‘A’ gets you an ‘A’. So it is better to choose an ‘A’.