| It provides us with an
opportunity to determine what is in our self-interest -
to reflect upon our wishes, desires and dreams and to
act upon them. Self-love is a virtue
It encourages one to develop talents.
Self-interest is important
It encourages people to be self-sufficient and to
strive to better themselves - rather than being leeches
& sponges
It enlightens to the fact that sometimes self-interest is masked as altruism
It decreases dependency & helps others in the long
run
Responsibility and freedom are emphasized.
Man sometimes shows an insensitivity to moral
suffering of others. (This moral suffering should create
a moral "pull")
When we look closely, we can imagine an element of
self-interest , a self-serving motive for helping
others.
It allows man to see a deeper truth: that we are
egoistic at time.
Studying egoism allows us to see that motives and consequences are not one and the same
Self-preservation is good
Accomplishments make one feel good and look good
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- It is morally insensitive going
against traditional ethical theories and values
- Love & marriage are difficult to
imagine
- Friendship, (willing the good of
another) is difficult to realize.
- Devalues the worth of another
- Hurts the other - is inhumane &
insensitive
- May be cruel to the weakest &
sickest, the youngest & oldest
- Immoral actions of others affect
everyone. Man is not an island unto himself. We
affect .
- The egoist consider altruism to
be demeaning because it says another person is more
important than the self. But is altruism really demeaning?
- Conflicts with predominant
morality of the culture
- It is inconsistent as one cannot promulgate this
theory while being selfish, as one would be
undermined. Can you help help another in a win/lose
situation without being undermined.
- It is inconsistent with helping professions -
nurses, rabbis, ministers,
- Inability to give moral advice or any advice if
it will make the other rise above the self
- Lacks an emphasis of consequences
- Some acts may be illegal
- There is a difference between
saying that self-interest is the ONLY motive or the
PRIMARY motive, rather than an incidental motive.
For a given action, we can ALWAYS imagine an element of
self-interest or a self-serving
motive for helping others. If this is the case, egoism is
not necessarily true.
Critique:
To imagine is one thing
To be correct is another thing.
Therefore, critics claim egoists have not fully
thought out their position.
- It is very strong to say: "People
ALWAYS AND ONLY seek pleasures for themselves;
therefore, they seek ONLY SOMETHING good for
themselves, namely their pleasures" If you can find
one exception (a parent getting up in the middle of
the night for a sick child; or saving a baby from
drowning in a pool) the statement is no longer
valid. Therefore,
sometimes
we do act selflessly to promote the good of others.
- Egoism is a half truth that need
to further address altruistic
desires:
Liptak argues there are two kinds of desires
and pleasures:
1. Self-seeking desires - to get things for me (a possession,
a good grade...)
2. Altruistic desires: - to promote the good of others for
the sake of others
Therefore, it is possible to be unselfish when we obtain
pleasure from helping others.
"Granted, we always act on our own desires, and in order to
satisfy our desires. By definition, my acts are motivated by my
desires! It does not follow that I desire only to get things
for myself. . Nor does it follow that I care only about the
self-centered indulgence of my desires" (Mike Martin 13).
- Are egoistic intuitions and hunches enough
to form a moral theory and bring man to a better place?
- It is difficult to teach to children and others
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