OPPapers.com Essay Index >> Philosophy >> Ethical Egoism
We have many free term papers and essays on Ethical Egoism. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or use our search engine.
Ethical and Psychological Egoism. ... Ethical egoism is the basic thought that people
shou23ld morally be self-concerned with actions that benefit themselves. ...
Ethical Egoism. Starting ... This example is just one way to show how ethical egoism
is not the best possible moral philosophy to follow. One ...
Ethical Egoism. Ethical egoism Explanation of the theory This moral theory
states that everyone should act in their own self-interest. ...
Ethical Egoism. Ethical egoism is the normative theory that the promotion
of one’s own good is in accordance with morality. In ...
ethical egoism. ... In the short story “The Displaced Person”, there was one
particular character that related to Personal ethical egoism. ...
Submitted by JanitorMan on October 12, 2005
Category: Philosophy
Words: 1618 | Pages: 7
Views: 682
Popularity Rank: 10,719
Average Member Grade: N/A (Add a Comment / Grade this Paper)
Ethical egoism is the normative theory that the promotion of one’s own good is in accordance with morality. In the strong version, it is held that it is always moral to promote one’s own good, and it is never moral not to promote it. In the weak version, it is said that although it is always moral to promote one’s own good, it is not necessarily never moral to not. That is, there may be conditions in which the avoidance of personal interest may be a moral action.
In an imaginary construction of a world inhabited by a single being, it is possible that the pursuit of morality is the same as the pursuit of self-interest in that what is good for the agent is the same as what is in the agent’s interests. Arguably, there could never arise an occasion when the agent ought not to pursue self-interest in favor of another morality, unless he produces an alternative ethical system in which he ought to renounce his values in favor of an imaginary self, or, other entity such as the universe, or the agent’s God. Opponents of ethical egoism may claim, however, that although it is possible for this Robinson Crusoe type creature to lament previous choices as not conducive to self-interest (enjoying the pleasures of swimming all day, and not spending necessary time producing food), the mistake is not a moral mistake but a mistake of identifying self-interest. Presumably this lonely creature will begin to comprehend the distinctions between short, and long-term interests, and, that short-term pains can be countered by long-term gains.
In addition, opponents argue that even in a world inhabited by a single being, duties would still apply; (Kantian) duties are those actions that reason dictates ought to be pursued regardless of any gain, or loss to self or others. Further, the deontologist asserts the application of yet another moral sphere which ought to be pursued, namely, that of impartial duties. The problem with complicating the creature’s world...
You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!