Ethical Judgments and Self Interest
Evaluate the claim that ethical judgments could be founded on self-interest alone
Egoism is the idea of putting the interests of oneself before the interests of others when making a moral decision. This idea is often perceived in a negative way because people generally don’t like to think that they are selfish or making decisions based on their own self-interest. I believe that there are a variety of judgments and decisions that are based on self-interest. If you explore deep into why a person made a particular decision you will almost always find some selfish reason for it. On the other hand this does not mean that the act itself was originally thought to be selfish. A consequence of committing an action may be self-satisfaction but this does not mean the motive behind the act is selfish. I believe that ethical judgments could be founded on self-interest however I do not believe that this is always the case. Can you put all motivations for actions to a single cause or are there many?
There are two types of egoism the first of which is psychological egoism. This is not a moral theory but is a view of the way in which a human being works therefore it is descriptive. The psychological egoist would argue that all human actions are motivated by self-interest. They argue that although it might seem we act in the interests of others (commit altruistic acts), underneath we have egoistic motives behind our acts. This is what Thomas Hobbes believed, that self-interest lay at the heart of all human motivation. Therefore the ethical egoist would support the claim that ethical judgments could be founded on self-interest alone. In fact they would believe that all ethical decisions can be founded on only self-interest. There is no could involved, all decisions are based on self-interest. For example the psychological egoist would say that we perform charitable acts because it stops us feeling pitiful towards others, in pitying we are imagining ourselves in that
Egoism is the idea of putting the interests of oneself before the interests of others when making a moral decision. This idea is often perceived in a negative way because people generally don’t like to think that they are selfish or making decisions based on their own self-interest. I believe that there are a variety of judgments and decisions that are based on self-interest. If you explore deep into why a person made a particular decision you will almost always find some selfish reason for it. On the other hand this does not mean that the act itself was originally thought to be selfish. A consequence of committing an action may be self-satisfaction but this does not mean the motive behind the act is selfish. I believe that ethical judgments could be founded on self-interest however I do not believe that this is always the case. Can you put all motivations for actions to a single cause or are there many?
There are two types of egoism the first of which is psychological egoism. This is not a moral theory but is a view of the way in which a human being works therefore it is descriptive. The psychological egoist would argue that all human actions are motivated by self-interest. They argue that although it might seem we act in the interests of others (commit altruistic acts), underneath we have egoistic motives behind our acts. This is what Thomas Hobbes believed, that self-interest lay at the heart of all human motivation. Therefore the ethical egoist would support the claim that ethical judgments could be founded on self-interest alone. In fact they would believe that all ethical decisions can be founded on only self-interest. There is no could involved, all decisions are based on self-interest. For example the psychological egoist would say that we perform charitable acts because it stops us feeling pitiful towards others, in pitying we are imagining ourselves in that