Ethical Egoism Essay Research Paper Ethical EgoismLike

Ethical Egoism Essay, Research Paper

Ethical Egoism

Like all other moral philosophy theories, ethical egoism tries to develop a comprehensive set of rules by which each person should govern their lives. Instead of approaching each daily decision separately and interpreting the correct response, philosophers try and find an overall rule that will guide each person in their daily lives. This is obviously not an easy task and has given birth to hundreds of varying theories. Ethical egoism tries to solve the problem in terms of maximizing one’s individual good. There are several positive aspects of this position, however, it has also been disputed for a number of reasons. After analyzing these arguments, I find that while ethical egoism may seem like a great idea in theory, it is practically impossible to put into practice.

Ethical egoism is a theory that states that “mortality requires nothing more of us than that we maximize our own personal good.” (Holmes) In other words, it says that what is morally right for a person is what they consider “good” for themselves. Whatever brings us the greatest degree of good is right. The ethical egoist is not concerned with maximizing the good of the people as a whole. They simply say that we should only be concerned with what’s good for ourselves. A quick interpretation of this theory would be that ethical egoists are greedy and that this theory is only promoting selfishness. Many people would say that being concerned only with your own personal good is simply the definition of selfishness. However, this is untrue. Ethical relativism does not require selfishness, yet it does not denounce it either. It simply says that if being selfish or greedy maximizes your own personal good, then it is right. Yet, if being benevolent and generous promotes your good, then this is right as well. Ethical egoism is a system of creating a morality based not only on one’s actions, but one’s beliefs about those actions. A person’s actions must not create good for others, only for themselves.

Although many disagree with the theory of ethical egoism, there are a number convincing arguments in its favor. When one considers the theory at face value, there is little that can be said wrong about it. What could possibly be bad about each person devoting their lives to maximizing their own personal good. Isn’t that what we’re all looking for anyway. Don’t we all want good lives. In addition, if each person is living in a state which they consider good, then ethical egoists believe that this will bring about some universal good as well. The point of ethical egoism is not to bring about an overall good, yet through the actions of individuals, it will supposedly do so. Each person acting under the theory of ethical egoism is not obliged to bring about a greater good, but it will exist nonetheless. Another appealing aspect of ethical egoism is that it allows each individual to make decisions which will ultimately make them happy. It allows people the freedom to decide what is good for them and therefore it allows them to create their own system of morality. People have the right to do what they feel is going to benefit their good without having the sense that they are doing something morally wrong. Although many people do not necessarily see this as a good thing, it is a consideration that many see as favorable.

After analyzing the ethical egoist theory a bit further, one begins to see that the theory is not as clear cut as one would like to think. There are several discrepancies in the ideas behind the theory as well as problems with putting the theory into practice. One thing to take a second look at is the argument that the ethical egoist theory promotes selfishness and greed. As we have seen, this is not entirely true. An ethical egoist is not saying that one should be egotistical, he is simply saying that if this does maximize one’s good, it is acceptable. However, many believe that although the theory does not directly promote selfishness, it certainly provides one with little incentive to act otherwise. Living in the extremely cynical world that we do today, I think many people would agree that most people are prone to greed over charity. If you tell people to act in a way that will maximize only their personal good without the consideration of others, I believe this will generally lead them to act in selfish or greedy ways. Although the theory does not demand selfishness, it can be argued that it certainly facilitates it. This argument is based on personal opinion yet it doesn’t completely discount the theory of ethical egoism. It is matter how you think people will act according to the theory.

However, there are several greater problems with the theory. Egoism is a theory that requires us to evaluate our personal needs and wants. In order to live by the theory of ethical egoism, one must decide what it is that will bring them the greatest amount of good. This means that for every daily decision that one makes, they must weigh not only all the immediate consequences of their actions, but also the long term effects of their actions. Many people argue that humans don’t have the intelligence to know what is best for themselves all the time. They argue that not only do we not have the mental capacity to do this, but we also don’t always know what’s good for us. A good example of this is people who smoke cigarettes. These people