Moral System: Ethical Egoism

1. Moral System: Ethical Egoism Ought to do what in own self-interest

2. Ethical Egoism • The Basic Good is one’s own interests. • Rule- everyone should act in ways that are in their own interest.

3. Types of Ethical Egoism • Individual- all people should do whatever benefits them. • Personal- should act in his or her own self-interest. • Universal- universal rule for all to follow. • Psychological egoism- factual claim that people do only act in their self-interest.

4. Justification # 1 • Argument # 1- Each of us is intimately familiar with our own individual wants and needs. We can pursue these, but know very little about the interests of others and thus to act on their behalf may produce more harm than good.

5. Justification # 2 • Looking out for “others” is an offensive intrusion into other people’s privacy. It is essentially a policy of “minding other people’s business.

6. Justification # 3 • To concern ourselves with others’ good is to degrade them and rob them of their dignity. It says they cannot care for self and lead to them becoming less self-reliant and dependent.

7. Justification # 4 • Ayn Rand- one’s individual life is of ultimate value and thus ethical egoism takes seriously this reality.

8. Argument Against • Thomas Jefferson- “our relations with others constitute the boundaries of morality. Self-love therefore, is no part of morality.

9. The Moral Point of View • Kurt Baier-there must be a moral basis for resolving conflicts, but ethical egoism often spawns them. “The moralist, in this view, is not like a judge who resolves disputes; rather he is a Commissioner of Boxing who urges each fighter to do his best.

10. Equal Treatment • Ethical egoism advocates that we divide the world into two categories of others- ourselves and everyone else. • What makes me so special? • We should care about the interests of others because they are comparable to our own.