EthicalEgoism

CommonSenseMorality
Moralityasitiscommonlyunderstoodmakesthe generalimplicitassump9onthatotherpeoples interestshavemoralweightthatwemustweigh againstourowninterestsinmakingmoral decisions. [Morality]assumeswehavedu9estoothers, simplybecausetherearepeoplewhocouldbe helpedorharmedbywhatwedo.Rachelsp.63. Butperhapsweshouldques9onthisassump9on! Coulditbewrong?
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TheTwoEgoisms
Therearetworelatedtheoriesthatques9onthis assump9on:
1. PsychologicalEgoism:ThePsychologicalTheorythat humansdoalwaysactexclusivelyoutofself interest. 2. EthicalEgoism:TheMoralTheorythathumans shouldactexclusivelyoutofselfinterest.
1. PEIsadescrip9veclaimaboutthewaytheworldis. 2. EEIsanorma9veclaimabouthowtheworldshouldbe.
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PsychologicalEgoism
IfPEistrue,altruismisimpossibleandmoral theorizingabouttheinterestsofothers,andhow weshouldtakethemintoaccountinourac9ons, ispointlessanaveexercisedoomedtofailure. Isaltruismpossible?Canwe,intheend,be mo9vatedandactontheinterestsofothers besideourselves? Examplesofaltruism:?
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ExamplesofAltruism
RaoulWallenberg:
SwedishBusinessmanwhospentapor9onofWWIIin BudapestHungary. HisresponsetotheNaziswastoconvincetheHungarian governmenttostopdepor9ngJews. WhentheHungariangovernmentwasreplacedbyaNazi puppetregimehebeganissuingSwedishProtec9on PassestothousandsofJewsclaimingtheywereinvolved inac9vi9esvitaltotheSwedish. HealsofoundplacesforJewstohide,andwhentheywere discoveredhephysicallyplacedhimselfbetweenthemand theNazisandsaidyouwillhavetoshootmerst. Wallenbergiscreditedwithsavingover15,000lives.
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ExamplesofAltruism
OsceolaMcCarty:
AfricanAmericanwomanindeepsouthern Mississippiwhoworkedasamaidherwholelife. Sheneverownedacar,at80+yearsoldshes9ll walkedoveramiletothenearestgrocerystore pushingherownshoppingcart. Overherlife9meshesavedeverypennyshe could,andatage87shegaveheren9resavingsof $150,000toendowascholarshipfundatthe UniversityofSouthernMississippi.
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ExamplesofAltruism
MichealMonsoor:
Sta9onedatRamadi,IraqtohelptrainIraqiforces. OnSept.29,2006Michaelandhisplatoonfoundthemselvesbeing reduponfromseveraldirec9onsatonce.Michael,3othersealsand anumberIraqisoldierssoughtdesperaterefugeonaroofopandtook updefensiveposi9ons. Withtheplatoonspreadaroundtheroof,MichaelwastheNavySeal closesttoanescaperoute. Butwhenagrenadeewovertheledge,thumpedhiminthechest andfelltotheground,hedidntdiveforcover. Insteadhethrewhimselfontothegrenade,smotheringitsdeadlyblast withhisownbody.EveryoneontheroofopsurvivedbutMichael. MichaelwasposthumouslyawardedtheCongressionalMedalof Honor.

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TheSelfInterestasDesireFulllment Account
Perhaps,saysthepsychologicalegoist,these seemingactsofpurealtruismcanbeexplainedin awayconsistentwithegoism. 1. Nooneactsinten9onallyandoftheirownfree willwithoutdesiringtoactthus. 2. Inac9ngthuseveryoneisfulllingtheirown desires. 3. Fulllingonesowndesiresisac9nginones ownselfinterest. Therefore,allinten9onalac9onsaremo9vated byselfinterest.
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ProblemswiththeDesireFulllment Account
1stproblem:MakesPEtriviallytrue.Simply denesselfinterestedac9onasany inten9onalac9on. 2ndproblem:Makesforveryimplausible claimsregardingpreviousexamplesof altruism. ConsidertheMichealMonsoorCase:

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ProblemswiththeDesireFulllment Account
IftheselfinterestasdesireaccountholdsthenMichael Monsoorwasac9ngoutofselfinterest.OK,letusaccept thatforthemoment.
Nowimagineanothersoldierinthesamesitua9onwho,insteadof throwinghimselfonthegrenade,takeshisplatoonmatenextto him(whowasabouttodiveforcover)andthrowsthathimonthe grenade,savinghimselfattheunwillingexpenseofhisbuddy. Iftheselfinterestasdesirefulllmentaccountholds,thenboth Michaelandthesecondsoldierwereac9ngintheirownself interestintheexactsamesensebecausebothwerefullling theirdesires:onebywillinglythrowinghimselfonthegrenade,the otherbythrowinghisunwillingbuddyonthegrenade. Theseseemlikeactsattheoppositeendsoftheac9nginself interestscale.Doesitseemplausibletoclaimtheywereboththe exactsamekindofselfinterestedact?

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ResponsetotheDesireFulllment Account
AwaytorespondtotheDesireFulllmentAccountis tooerabener,moreplausibleandintui9veaccount ofwhatselfinterestmeans. Inassessingwhetheranac9onisselfinterested,the issueisnotwhethertheac9onisbasedonadesire;the issueiswhatkindofdesireitisbasedon.Ifwhatyou wantistohelpsomeoneelse,thenyourmo9veis altruis9c,notselfinterested.RachelsP.72 Howwouldthisunderstandingofselfinterestassess thetwosoldiercasesjustdiscussed?Wouldit dis9nguishthemasdierentkindofacts?Onwhat basis?Isthedis9nc9onintui9velyplausible?
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TheAwfulArgument
InthepastPsychologicalEgoismandEthical Egoismhavebeenlinkedinthefollowing deeplyawedargument:
1. PsychologicalEgoismistrue.Humanscanonly actoutofselfinterest. 2. Thereforeitmustbetruethathumansshould onlyactoutofselfinterest. Conclusion:EthicalEgoismmustbetrue.
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TheAwfulArgument
WhyistheAwfulArgumentnotsound? Firstandforemostwehavejustarguedthat premise1isnottrue.Sothatisenoughto insurethefailureofthisargument. Butevenifweweretograntthetruthof Premise1(PE),theargumentwouldfail. Cananyonetellmewhy?

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TheAwfulArgument
1. PsychologicalEgoismistrue.Humanscanonly actoutofselfinterest. 2. Thereforeitmustbetruethathumansshould onlyactoutofselfinterest. Conclusion:EthicalEgoismmustbetrue.

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TheIs/OughtGap
Theargumentcrossestheis/oughtgap,thisis otherwiseknownasthenaturalis9cfallacy. Youcannotdrawanorma9veconclusionfromapurely descrip9vepremise.Justbecausesomethingistheway itis,doesntmeanitshouldbethewayitis. Justbecauseeveryknownhumansocietyhashad murderscomminedinitdoesntmeanthatallsocie9es shouldhavemurderers. Similarly,justbecausewemaynotpsychologicallyhave anychoicebuttoactselshly,doesnotmeanthat thereisalsonorma9vepressureonustoactselshly.
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TheAwfulArgument
ThereforetheAwfulArgumentisneithervalid norSound. 1. Evenifwegrantthepremises,the conclusiondoesnotfollow(invalid). 2. Furthermore,thepremisesarenottrue.

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EthicalEgoism
SoatthispointwewillsetasidePsychological EgoismandfocusonEthicalEgoism exclusively. EE:Thedoctrinethateachpersonought alwaystopursuehisorherownselfinterest exclusively.

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Clarica9onsonEE
TwoClarica9onsofEE. 1. Doesnotruleouthelpingothersincidentally.
Coincidentalaid(orharm)toothersisnotruledout,butitis alsonotarelevantmoralreasonfororagainstanac9on. EectsonothersaremorallyneutralaccordingtoEE. Cancelledassignmentcase. Insteadselfinterestisdenedbyouractualobjec9velong terminterests. Partyingandnotstudyingcase. Heroinxcase.

2. Selfinterestisnotdenedbyoursimpleshortterm desireswhatwewanttodo.

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2ArgumentsforEthicalEgoism
1. Theargumentthataltruismisself defea9ng. 2. TheargumentthatEthicalEgoism isconsistentwithcommonsense morality. Wewilltakeeachoftheseinturn.
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TheArgumentthatAltruismisSelf defea9ng
FirstArgumentforEE:Theargumentthat altruismisselfdefea9ng.
Eachofushasprivilegedaccesstoourowninterests andnotthoseofothers.Thereforewhenweaimto helpotherswithwhatweperceiveastheirinterests wewillofendomoreharmthangood. Lookingoutforothersmakesthoseothersobjects ofcharityandisaninvasionofprivacy. Makingothersobjectsofcharityrobsthemoftheir dignityandselfrespect.
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ResponsestotheAltruismisSelf defea9ngArgument
First,itseemsclearthatatleastinsome instancesIknowtheinterestsofothersandcan actonthemwithoutsignicantriskofdoing moreharmthangood.
Shipwreckcase.

Second,thebiggerproblemisthattheargument reliesonahiddenpremisethatiscompletely inconsistentwithEthicalEgoism.

Wecanseethisifwelaytheargumentoutinamore formalway.
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ResponsestotheAltruismisSelf defea9ngArgument
1. Weoughttodowhateverwillbestpromote everyonesinterests. 2. Thebestwaytopromoteeveryonesinterestsis foreachofustopursueourowninterests exclusively. 3. Therefore,eachofusshouldpursueourown interestsexclusively. Premise1.isaaltruis9cpremise,notan egois9cone,butitisnecessaryforthe argumenttosucceed.
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TheArgumentthatEEisconsistent withCommonsenseMorality
SomeadvocatesofEEhavearguedthatit supportscommonmoralrules.
Dontlie.(peoplewilldistrustus,lietousin return,thisfrustratesourinterests) Dontharm.(peopleharmusinreturn,this frustratesourinterests) KeepPromises.(Canttrustotherstokeeptheir promises,thisfrustratesourinterests)
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TheArgumentthatEEisconsistent withCommonsenseMorality
Thereasonineachcasethattherulesshould befollowedisthatnotdoingsofrustrates longterminterests. Therstproblemisthatiftheseeectscanbe takenaway,thenlying,harmingandbreaking promisesbecomenotjustpermissible,but obligatory.
Hermitcase.
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TheArgumentthatEEisconsistent withCommonsenseMorality
Thesecondproblemisthatevenifweacceptthe argument,itdoesnotproveenoughtoestablishEEas thecorrectmoraltheory. Itmaybetruethatyourselfinterestleansinthe direc9onofnotcommiungmurderduetothelong termconsequences,butthisdoesnotestablishthefact thatthesearetheonlyreasonsnottocommitmurder. Instead,itseemsperfectlyconsistentwiththeseclaims tosaythatmurderisalso(oractually)wrongbecauseit istheunjus3eddestruc3onofanautonomousmoral being.
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ThreeArgumentsAgainstEthical Egoism
1. EEendorseswickedness. 2. KurtBaiersargumentsthatEEcanthandle conictsofinterest. 3. ThechargeofArbitrariness. Wewilltakeeachargumentinturn.

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1.EEEndorsesWickedness
Truenewspaperstories:
1. Aparamedicinjectsemergencypa9entswithsterile waterinordertosellthemorphine. 2. Parentsfeedtheirbabyacidsotheycanfakealawsuit abouttaintedformula. 3. Anurserapestwopa9entswhiletheyareunconscious. 4. Amanwhowas$90,000indebtshootshismailman seven9mesbecauseheprefersprisontohomelessness. Clearly,iftheyhadntbeenfoundout,theseac9onswould havebeenineachoftheactorsinterests.Shouldwe reallyendorsethemasmoral????
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2.BaiersConictofInterestArgument
Ques9on:Whogetsthelastpieceofpizza?

Thespoiledkid Orthehungryhomelessveteran?
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2.BaiersConictofInterestArgument
AccordingtoBaier,EEdoesntgiveusaclearanswerin caseswherethereisaconictofinterestsuchasthis one. TheEthicalEgoistcouldsimplyclaimthatitis obligatoryforboththespoiledkidandtheveteranto goforthepizza,andtheonewhogetsitisthemoral victor. Butisjustghtitoutamoraltheory? Shouldntamoraltheoryatleastgiveusaframework forevalua9ngwhichonedeservesitmore?This certainlyseemspreferabletomightmakesright.
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3.TheArbitrarinessArgument
PrincipleofEqualTreatment:
Weshouldtreatpeoplethesamewayunlessthere isarelevantdierencebetweenthem.Todosois arbitrarydiscrimina9on.

Clarica9on:
Thisdoesnotmeaninsuringthesameoutcome foreveryone!Butgivingeveryoneanequal opportunityforapar9cularoutcome. VietnamDrafExample.
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3.TheArbitrarinessArgument
Therearelotsofdoctrinesthatviolatethis requirementagainstarbitrarydiscrimina9on.
Canyouthinkofsomeexamples? 1. Racism 2. Sexism 3. Ageism 4. Classism 5. Sizeism 6. Na9onalism? Thesedoctrinesprivilegeacertaingroupforno relevantreason.
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3.TheArbitrarinessArgument
Egoismalsoprivilegesonpar9cularsetofpersons overothers,namelyyourselfovereveryoneelse. Theques9onis:IsEgoismoneofthebadisms? Ifthereisagoodreasontodiscriminateagainst everyoneelseitisnotabadism. Ifthereisnogoodreason,itisasbadasracismor sexism,andtobedismissedasreadily.

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3.TheArbitrarinessArgument
ImagineyourselfasarefugeeinDarfur.Youstumbleupona cacheoffood.Egoismsaysyoushouldtakeitforyourselfas foodisscarce. Nowwemightask,whyshouldntyousharethefood?Why doyouprivilegeyourselfovereveryoneelse?
Doeshungeraectothersanylessthanyou? Areotherslessdeserving? Areyoumoreintelligent? Doyouenjoylifemorethaneveryoneelse? Inshort,whatmakesyousospecial?

Failingasa9sfactoryansweregoismisanunacceptably arbitrarydoctrineandshouldbedismissedasaserious moralcontender.

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