Ethical Minds
Psychological Egoism and Ethical Egoism
Psychological Egoism
Psychological egoism is the claim that people always act selfishly, to foster their own self-interest or happiness. Psychological hedonism is the claim that people always act to attain their own pleasure and avoid pain. Psychological hedonism is also called the "pleasure principle."
In these notes, I'll give arguments against psychological egoism. However, the same arguments apply against psychological hedonism.
Is psychological egoism a fact (a true claim)? If it is true, ethics is in trouble, because most traditional ethical systems demand at least occasional altruism (unselfish behavior). If psychological egoism were true, altruism would not be possible. We would have to explain apparent (what appears as) altruism as self-interest. For example, we wouldn't say Mother Teresa is altruistic; we'd say that she's self-interested. She's using the poor to attain her own long-term spiritual goals.
In fact, people who......
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