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Ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to do w hat is in their own self-interest.

It is important to distinguish this from psyc hological egoism, the claim that people can only act in their own interest. Psyc hological egoism is a claim about how people do act, not a claim about how they ought to act. Ethical egoism is distinct from rational egoism (which holds that it is rational to act in one's self-interest) and individualism, neither of whic h posit that acting in one's self-interest is necessary to act in a morally righ t way. Ethical egoism contrasts with ethical altruism, which holds that moral agents ha ve an ethical obligation to help or serve others. Ethical egoism does not, howev er, require moral agents to disregard the well-being of others, nor does it requ ire that a moral agent refrains from considering the well-being of others in mor al deliberation. What is in an agent's self-interest may be incidentally detrime ntal to, beneficial to, or neutral in its effect on others. It allows for the po ssibility of either as long as what is chosen is efficacious in satisfying selfinterest of the agent. Ethical egoism is sometimes the philosophical basis for people's support of libe rtarianism or anarchism, political positions based partly on a belief that indiv iduals should not coercively prevent others from exercising freedom of action. Contents [hide] 1 Types of ethical egoism 2 Proponents 3 Criticisms 4 Footnotes 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Types of ethical egoism Three different formulations of ethical egoism have been identified: individual, personal and universal. An individual ethical egoist would hold that all people should do whatever benefits him;[1] A personal ethical egoist, that he should a ct in his own self-interest, but makes no claims about what anyone else ought to do, while universal ethical egoists argue that everyone should act in ways that are in their own interest.[2] A philosophy holding that one should be honest, just, benevolent etc., because t hose virtues serve one's self-interest is egoistic; one holding that one should practice those virtues for reasons other than self-interest is not egoistic. [edit] Proponents Max Stirner was the first philosopher to call himself an egoist. Others, such as Thomas Hobbes and David Gauthier, have argued that the conflicts which arise wh en people each pursue their own ends can be resolved for the best of each indivi dual only if they all voluntarily forgo some of their aims that is, one's self-i nterest is often best pursued by allowing others to pursue their self-interest a s well so that liberty is equal among individuals. Sacrificing one's short-term self-interest in order to maximize one's long-term self-interest is one form of "rational self-interest" which is the idea behind most philosophers' advocacy of ethical egoism. Noted egoist Ayn Rand contended that there was a harmony of int erest among humans, so that a moral agent could not rationally harm another pers on. As Nietzsche (in Beyond Good and Evil) and Alasdair MacIntyre (in After Virtue) are famous for pointing out, the ancient Greeks did not associate morality with

altruism in the way that post-Christian Western civilization has done. Aristotle 's view, for example, is that we have duties to ourselves as well as to other pe ople (e.g. friends) and to the polis as a whole. The term ethical egoism has been applied retroactively to philosophers such as B ernard de Mandeville and to many other materialists of his generation, although none of them declared themselves to be egoists. Note that materialism does not n ecessarily imply egoism, as indicated by Karl Marx, and the many other materiali sts who espoused forms of collectivist altruism. [edit] Criticisms Some contend that the view is implausible[3][4], and that those who advocate it seriously usually do so at the expense of redefining "self-interest" to include the interests of others[5]. An ethical egoist might counter this by asserting th at furthering the ends of others is sometimes the best means of furthering one's own ends, or that simply by allowing liberty to others one's self-interest is r esultantly furthered. Ethical egoism has also been alleged as the basis for immorality. For instance, Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to Thomas Law, in 1814: Self-interest, or rather self-love, or egoism, has been more plausibly substitut ed as the basis of morality. But I consider our relations with others as constit uting the boundaries of morality. With ourselves, we stand on the ground of iden tity, not of relation, which last, requiring two subjects, excludes self-love co nfined to a single one. To ourselves, in strict language, we can owe no duties, obligation requiring also two parties. Self-love, therefore, is no part of moral ity. Indeed, it is exactly its counterpart.[6] Ethical egoism is opposed not only by altruist philosophies, but is also at odds with the majority of religions. Most religions hold that ethical egoism is the product of a lack of genuine spirituality and shows an individual's submersion i n greed. Religious egoism is a derivative of egoism where the faith is used to v alidate one's self interest. [2]

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