Ethical Egoism Flashcards
Who came up with ethical egoism
Max stirner
What is ethical egoism
A normative theory - a theory on how we ought to behave.
It’s the idea that each person ought to peruse their Own self interest exclusively
It argues that we have no duty except to do what is best for ourselves.
It doesn’t say that you should avoid actions that help others.
its the idea that each perosn ougght to pursue his or her own self intrrest exclusivelty
3
what is the diffrence between ethhical and psychological egosim
- psychological egoism us a theory of how human nature is concernred with hoe people do behave - we already act within our selpf intrests
whereas ethical egoism is how we have no duty except to do what is best for our selves - we OUGHT to
what is nihilism
the rejection of all religoius and moral principles in the belief that life is meaningless
what is existentialism
a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determinig tehir own develpoment through acts of will
what is anarchy
state of disorder due to absence or non recognition of authority or other controlling systems
what is altruism
it is when we cat to promote someone elses welfare even at a risk or cost to ourselves
why did sternier belive that freedom was an illusion
we are slaves to eternal factors
what was max steriners book called
ego and its own
how does steirner challange psychological egosim
he says that we dont act in our ownself intrest rather it is an illusion and what we traditionally think as acting of our own self intrests is really a slave to external factors - eg our parents
how doea altrusim relate to ethical egoism
its the opposite to ethical egosim, altruism says that we have a duty to help others above ourselves
how does short or long term intrests relate to ethical egoism
- ethical egoism doesnt always mean to pursue our short term intrests
- this i sbecaue we need ot focus on out long term intrets - the fullfillment of short term desire smay prove detrimntal to the long term self
what does stirner say about actions within our self intrest
he agrees with general ethical egoism that self intrest should be the root of all moral actions
what is sterniers opinion on that we are all unique
- stirner justifies the above by claiming all individiduals are unique
- the reason we should only act in our own self intrest is because any attemot to satisfy teh needs of others will restrict our own unique ego.
- therefore individuals in order to maximise their uniqiueness must concentrate all their actions purley on themselves
what is stirner belive in the rejection of moral ethics and the conscience
- in order to develop our own uniqueness stirner calls for us to reject our enslavemnt to moral frameworks imposed on us by others
- stirner goes futher and even rejects following our own conscience - this is because the conscience is no more than an internalised set or moral values imposed on us by society - they arent a reflection of our own true unique ego
- for stirner the only way to develpo our own slef ego is to reject all moral influences - instead we must concentrate purely on oursleves by develpoing our own unique sense of morality based purely upon our own unique ego
- : Stirner rejects the concept of universal moral rules, arguing that they are imposed by external authorities to control and suppress the individual’s autonomy. Instead, he believes that moral norms are artificial constructs, “spooks” or “ghosts” of social and religious institutions that exist only because individuals allow them to have power over them. Stirner encourages people to liberate themselves from these “spooks” and act according to their own desires and needs.
