Reference no: EM133622449
According to Ethical Egoism, when we are deciding between two courses of action, we should pick the one that we believe would benefit us most. We should always do what we believe will benefit ourselves, even if that.means a cost to others.Can you think of a case where a person follows this principle (of Ethical Egoism) yet would be doing the morally wrong thing? If so, can any defense be made on behalf of Ethical Egoism?
Some people think that only the capacity to act for self-interested reasons would have evolved in us. "Evolution favors those who out compete the others" they might say. Thus psychological egoism is true. But maybe that's a mistake.
Is there a reason to think that the capacity for altruistic acts could have evolved in us (or in other animals)? To answer this question, you might begin by considering whether the capacity for altruistic acts confers an advantage either on individuals who are altruistic or on the groups that contain altruistic individuals.
3. Do one, two or all three of the questions.
Describe a case that appears to be an altruistic act. Give details so that your example is very concrete.
(Remember we are defining an altruistic act as an act performed in order to benefit someone else, not in order to serve oneself. So in an altruistic act, the agent woulld still do the act, even at a net lost to himself.)
Explain how the psychological egoist would reinterpet the act as egoistic (self-interested).
Is there a standoff between the psychological egoist and the believer in the reality of altruistic acts? What argument or evidence can support the view that genuinely altruistic acts exist?
Psychological egoism is the view that every act is done for self-interested reasons. That is, the intention behind every act is to benefit oneself, even if one helps another person along the way.
What do you think? What, if any, would be the empirical evidence for this view? Is it something we observe? Is it true by definition, perhaps?
If you think psychological egoism is a true description of human beings, why do you think it is true? If you don't think it is a true description, why do you think other people would thing it was true?