EGOISM
ETHICS INTERNET
Egoism
Reading Assignment: MacKinnon, Chapter 3 Thomas Hobbes, Self Love, pg. 45 Plato, Conclusion to the Ring of Gyges Objectives:
Explain the difference between psychological and ethical egoism;
Discuss the consistency and/or inconsistency of ethical egoism.
Define the moral point of view
List and describe the 3 levels of the soul
Lecture: EGOISM
What does egoism mean?
A descriptive definition is “a theory that describes what people are like”. This is called psychological egoism. It states that people are basically selfish, self-centered. It is a view about how people behave, why they do what they do.
A normative definition is “a theory that says how people ought to behave.” This is called ethical egoism.
Psychological Egoism There are two ways to understand psychological egoism. First that people basically act in narrow, short-range ways out of self-interest. Second people act out of self-interest but have broader, long term goals in mind and need to avoid being short sighted. The theory of psychological egoism needs to show that people always act in ways that self-satisfaction is their aim; that people always act to promote their own interests.
Do you think that humans only act for the sake of their own best interest? Or, is it possible for a person to act in an altruistic manner?
How do we know what motivates a person?
The answer is that we don’t unless we ask them! For this reason we cannot prove theories about human motivation.
Read the opening dialogue in Chapter 3 and identify those parts of the conversation that are egoistic and those that are altruistic.
Ethical Egoism This is a normative theory that gives direction on how we ought to act, what we ought to do. Individual ethical egoism means that I ought to look out only for my self-interests; that I should be concerned about others only to the extent that it contributes to
Egoism
Reading Assignment: MacKinnon, Chapter 3 Thomas Hobbes, Self Love, pg. 45 Plato, Conclusion to the Ring of Gyges Objectives:
Explain the difference between psychological and ethical egoism;
Discuss the consistency and/or inconsistency of ethical egoism.
Define the moral point of view
List and describe the 3 levels of the soul
Lecture: EGOISM
What does egoism mean?
A descriptive definition is “a theory that describes what people are like”. This is called psychological egoism. It states that people are basically selfish, self-centered. It is a view about how people behave, why they do what they do.
A normative definition is “a theory that says how people ought to behave.” This is called ethical egoism.
Psychological Egoism There are two ways to understand psychological egoism. First that people basically act in narrow, short-range ways out of self-interest. Second people act out of self-interest but have broader, long term goals in mind and need to avoid being short sighted. The theory of psychological egoism needs to show that people always act in ways that self-satisfaction is their aim; that people always act to promote their own interests.
Do you think that humans only act for the sake of their own best interest? Or, is it possible for a person to act in an altruistic manner?
How do we know what motivates a person?
The answer is that we don’t unless we ask them! For this reason we cannot prove theories about human motivation.
Read the opening dialogue in Chapter 3 and identify those parts of the conversation that are egoistic and those that are altruistic.
Ethical Egoism This is a normative theory that gives direction on how we ought to act, what we ought to do. Individual ethical egoism means that I ought to look out only for my self-interests; that I should be concerned about others only to the extent that it contributes to