Ethical Egoism

Question 1

EE

Answer 1

Normative, teleological- goal of achieving one’s own self-interest. Opposes altruism.
Only duty a moral agent has is to themselves.

Question 2

EE key quotes:

Answer 2

Norman: “Within our own moral culture, largely as a product of the Christian tradition, an altruistic concern for others is widely held to be a, or even the, supreme value”

Driver: “Psychological egoism is a theory of human nature that purports to describes what motivates people to act. Ethical egoism… is normative. It purports to tell us how people ought to act”

Driver: “Altruistic actions are those that are performed for the sake of others- purely for the sake of others. The psychological egoist denies that there are such acts”

Question 3

Psychological egoism.

Answer 3

Descriptive theory of what motivates human behaviour.
Psychological egoism reinterprets our motives so any apparent altruism is understood as egoism in disguise.
- We DO act in our own self interest.
- description of reality
- no such thing as altruism (illusion)
- not free to act any other way.

This kind of ‘selfishness’ isn’t as bad as it sounds- Adam Smith said that a free market economy flourishes when people are allowed to fulfil their own material desires and needs unhindered.

Question 5

Arguments against PE

Answer 5

• We sometimes do this which we know are bad for us, we don’t always do what ‘we want to do’
• we also do things because we feel we ‘ought’ to, we feel a duty to do so (eg. visiting relatives, giving to charity)
• PE claims there is hidden, selfish motive to duties- but does feeling satisfaction about something constitute a selfish reason, can it be proved?
• the claim that all actions are selfish, is unfalsifiable, so meaningless/ empty.

Question 6

How does ethical egoism differ from psychological differ?

Answer 6

EE says what we ought to do is the same as what we actually do- which is to act according to our own concerns.
- We ought to act only according to our own concerns and to further our own cause.
- prescriptive theory
- altruistic acts should be avoided unless in own interests
- we act wrongly when we act against our own interests.
(voluntary egoism)

Question 7

Main points of EE

Answer 7

• normative, agent-focused ethical theory
• being egoistic is the only rational way of living
• rejects deontology- because an individual is following duties which are heteronomous
• rejects altruism, does not promote self-interest- irrational to pursue.
• altruism or duties may exist, but it is wrong to act because of them.

Question 8

Immediate gratification

Answer 8

Self interested actions are not always concerned with immediate gratification. Seemingly selfless act can have self interested long term goal.
eg. Business giving a free product- provides positive advertising and business.

Question 9

Ayn Rand 1

Answer 9

• 20th century writer who promoted ideas of ethical egoism.
• attacks altruism as a denial of the value of the individual.
• because we can only really possess and know ourselves, and only accurately fulfil our own desires, we should put out efforts into doing this.
  -eg. giving charity to the homeless could be deemed patronising, it imposes our desires onto them, not allowing them to express their own.

Question 10

Ayn Rand 2

Answer 10

“Selfless behaviour is short-sighted”
Says this creates a society that treats individuals as disposable by ‘honouring’ self-sacrifice for the benefit of potentially manipulative rulers.
Long term self interest means we can create a society where individuals satisfy own best interests. You can still help people in need.
If you want to, nothing will stop you.

Question 11

Quote from Ayn Rand

Answer 11

“If a man accepts the ethics of altruism, his first concern is not how to live his life, but how to sacrifice it”

Question 12

Suzanne Spaak

Answer 12

A wealthy French mother and housewife, who put herself at risk by working to hide Jews in WW2.
She focused on the sick and children, and was arrested and killed by Nazis for her work.
Could declare self interest as the root for her behaviour which appears purely altruistic:
Motives could include:
- wanting to fight against Nazism in France.
- she valued ideals such as equality.
- she was searching for fulfilment.
Suzanne’s controlling motive:
- controlled by loyalty to France.
- religious moral norms control her.
- responsibility to others controls her.

Question 13

Arguments that determine it is logical to be egotistic:

Answer 13

• charity could be deemed as patronising and intrusive, robbing others of their dignity and self-reliance.
• it is in everybody’s interests, when you pursue and achieve your own desires as only you can know your own desires accurately and reliably.
• altruism implies that someone else is more deserving than you are- but your life is of ultimate value- you only have on (Ayn Rand)
• following duties is giving in to the expectations of others, or of society. It robs you of your autonomy and makes you unfree (Max Stirner)

Question 14

Arguments against PE (no altruistic acts)

Answer 14

1. The feeling of satisfaction comes after- it isn’t motivating: it is a by-product and is assumed to occur.
2. The feeling does not by itself prove whether the motivations were selfish or unselfish: nothing can prove if they were or not- the claim that all actions are selfish is unfalsifiable.
3. Somethings we do, are not for our real self interest (drugs, junk food, smoking)- more for pleasure (hedonism)

Question 15

Further arguments against EE:

Answer 15

• EE encourages individual to fight hardest for themselves- leads to more interpersonal conflict.
• does not provide guidance on how to resolve conflict- people advocated to be selfish.
• EE does not prevent evil acts that people find pleasure in (racism, rape)
• common good not promoted, may weaken society.
• following this may lead to anarchy and social chaos through rejection of social controls.
• does not recognise equality- allows for bigotry and discrimination.

Question 16

Max Stirner biography

Answer 16

• 1806-1856
• German, real name Johann Kasper Schmidt.
• not very successful as a student of philosophy, studied under Hegel.
• main book- The Ego and its Own
• fore-runner of nihilist, individualistic-anarchic, alienated-existentialist philosophies.

Question 17

Max Stirner

Answer 17

• Holds hostility towards religion, requires people to be shackled by obligation to faith. By subjecting ourselves to a higher power we do not act in our own self interest.
• Values ownness or self rule as the most important good (superior to everything else and incompatible to obligation).
• Believes materialism enslaves us, as does religion- if a person is under the subjection of something else, they do not truly have autonomy.

Question 18

Stirner’s response to psychological egoism.

Answer 18

PE says self interest is the root cause of human action even when it appears to be altruistic.
To contrast this, Stirner claimed:
1. We think we are acting out of self interest, but we are not.
2. We are slaves to other interests, like duty, guilt, or conscience. (nationality and society can play a part- British values)
3. We are deceived into thinking it is in our self interest to obey those interests.

We must become an ‘almighty ego’- can only happen when fully in control- to become your own unique (enzig) true self (einzige) and owning yourself fully (eigenheit)

Acts are neither altruistic nor self interested- controlled by a sense of duty to some other value.

Question 19

Involuntary psychological egoism:

Answer 19

Passions and uncontrolled desires eg. sensuality, ambition, greed, leaves us unfree.
To be a unique ego (einzige) requires rejecting all false and unreal ideas and authorities (cultural, national, societal, religious, personal) - what Stirner calls ‘spooks’

Question 20

How does Stirner define an ethical egoist?

Answer 20

You must:
- stop acting out of duty, according to the demands of the Law/ State etc
- stop acting out of passion/ sensual desire
- stop acting out of guilt or conscience
- stop acting out of external conventional morality

Question 21

Einzige

Answer 21

Ego- the delusion of the past and the true nature of self-interest

Question 22

Einzige- explanation

Answer 22

• Stirner argued we have a false notion of liberty in our approach to thinking.
• A conventional understanding of self interest is always slave to something else, for example, religious moral duty.
• Stirner calls for humans to recognise the enslavement of duty and obligation imposed by such moral framework
• A person who thinks they act independently is misguided because other frameworks misguide them.

Question 23

Einzige- quote

Answer 23

“when one looks to the bottom of anything ie. searches out it’s essence, one often discovers something quite other than what it seems to be”- makes reference to ghosts and spooks for the revelation to ‘essence’

Question 24

Einzige- example of giving money to charity out of self interest (eg. to develop character)

Answer 24

Stirner would claim there is always an underlying motive in our actions which is not self-interest. May be acting out of self-duty- your conscience telling you to fulfil this obligation. Then you are not free to act as you wish, making you the slave.

Question 25

Eigenheit

Answer 25

owness- the future of the self is to realise owness

Question 26

Eigenheit- explanation

Answer 26

• Stirner made important distinction between self and owness
• a philosopher who says they are free and independent needs to recognise that in order to be truly free they must be freed from all obligation to any conscious or subconscious ideal- they must realise their owness.

Question 27

Quote of Eigenheit

Answer 27

“I am my own when I am the master of myself, instead of being mastered by sensuality or by anything else”

Question 28

Eigenheit- response to giving to charity out of self interest

Question 32

Stirner quotes

Answer 32

“I decide whether it is the right thing in me; there is no right outside me”
“I am the owner of my might, and I am so when I know myself as unique…every higher essence above me, be it God, be it man, weakens my sense of uniqueness”

Question 33

The Union of Egoists

Answer 33

Although Stirner was an anarchist, he recognised that living does require organisation, but that this could be done through egoist principles, to protect and promote each individual’s self-benefit.

Involves 3 principles:
1. Free agreement- members cannot be forced to join a particular union.
2. Equality of all members- no one member can tell another member what to believe or think.
3. Mutual self interest- the union exists purely to help each individual in the union to achieve their own unique goals.

Question 34

What does a union achieve?

Answer 34

By forming unions, an individual’s rights to pursue their own egoistic desires if promoted and protected. More self interest can result from co-operation, than without such co-operation.
It also ensures others do not have to sacrifice anything of themselves.

eg. marriage- would only last as long as it was helping both members to develop and satisfy their own unique ego. Once a marriage partner felt the union involved sacrificing their own ego, they should walk away.

Question 35

Stirner’s rejection of religion.

Answer 35

• Holds hostility towards religion, requires people to be shackled by obligation to faith. By subjecting ourselves to a higher power we do not act in our own self interest.
• Religious believers think they are free as they inwardly choose their beliefs but they are not free from faith, the law, or obligation to others.

Question 36

Strengths of Stirner’s EE

Answer 36

1. autonomous: ethics is a personal decision and responsibility
2. egoism is realistic- can only know and pursue my own desires effectively, not those of another
3. doesn’t have to be selfish- care and concern for others is allowed, because it serves long term interest, and may have a natural satisfaction in doing so
4. rejects selfish passions- and so more likely to respect others
5. union of egoists recognises that greater self-interest can result from co-operation, so is community-building. may prevent moral evil of an individual egoist

Question 37

Weaknesses of Stirner’s EE

Answer 37

1. no absolutes of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ as such. still allows wrongdoing at the expense of others.
2. we are all influenced and educated. nobody is truly ‘self’. we are all too weak to break out of such frameworks, or to know how to.
3. if self-interest is key value, does not recognise equal rights of others, so one’s freedom is then limited- leads to bigotry and more conflict, not social harmony.
4. how can you balance the will of an egoist and the will of a union of egoists, if only individual desires matter? cannot run society this way, as it ignores community ethos and promotes injustice to equal needs of others (the vulnerable)

Question 38

Long term and short term interests

Answer 38

• 1928
• H.A. Pritchard- delivered a lecture ‘Duty and Interest’ - questioned true motive behind a dutiful action.
• If we act because the end product is advantageous, whether we are consciously aware or not, we are acting out of self interest.
• does not have to be a short term situation
• acting in self interest is more complex than may seem as there needs to be consideration of both short and long-term effects.

Short term gains- giving to charity might make an individual feel good.
Long term gains- developing character or earning merit for a greater cause such as an afterlife

Question 39

Key quote for long and short term interests

Answer 39

Adam Smith (18th century)- “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest”