Transcript Ethics

Ethics
Chapter Eight
Ethics and Egoism:
Why Should We Be
Moral?
1
Ethics and Egoism
• Why Should We Be Moral?
– Why should I do what morality requires
even when it may not be in my best
interest?
– Suppose I can cheat and
get away with it?
– Why shouldn’t I cheat?
•I won’t like it if others did it
•If enough people do it,
grades will be meaningless
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Ethics and Egoism
• The Ring of Gyges
– Morality is simply a compromise
between our longing to dominate
and our fear of being dominated by
others
– We enter into a social con
tract to live by mutually
coercive rules
– We call this “Morality”
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Ethics and Egoism
• The Ring of Gyges
– Gyges had a ring that made him
invisible and used the ring to seduce
the Queen and plot against the King,
slew him and took his kingdom
– No man would keep his hands
off what was not his own when
he could safely take what he
liked out of the market
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Ethics and Egoism
• The Ring of Gyges
– A man is just not willingly or because
he thinks justice is good to him
individually, but of necessity
– For whenever anyone thinks
that he can safely be unjust,
he is unjust
– All men believe that injustice
is far more profitable than
justice
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Ethics and Egoism
• The Ring of Gyges
– What we need to do to make this
determination is to look at individuals
who have reached the extremes of
just and unjust and then
determine who is the happier
of the two
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Ethics and Egoism
• The Ring of Gyges
– Everyone is better off being ruled by
the godlike and intelligent whether by
having it inside himself or by laws or
friends
– That way we may all be
alike as possible and all
steered by the same thing
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– Objectivism is the philosophy that the
proper life for rational beings is the
pursuit of their happiness and that
altruism and self sacrifice
are incompatible with
rational morality
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– Rand says that morality is a code of
behavior imposed on you by whim
– Your pleasure, you have been taught,
is to be found in immorality,
your interest best served by
evil
– Any moral code must be
designed against you, to
drain your life
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– The good is self sacrifice for the sake
of ghosts in heaven and the good is
self sacrifice for the sake of
incompetents on earth
– Man’s mind is his basic tool
of survival
– To remain alive, he must think
– To think is an act of choice
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– Reason does not work automatically
– The connections of logic are not
made by instinct, unlike the functions
of your stomach, lungs, heart
– An instinct of self preservation
is precisely what man does
not possess
– An instinct is an unerring and
automatic form of knowledge
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– Man’s life is the standard of morality
– If existence on earth is your goal, you
must choose your actions and values
by the standards of that which
is proper to man for the
purpose of preserving ,
fulfilling and enjoying the
irreplaceable value which
is your life
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– A being who does not hold his own
life as the motive and goal of his
actions, is acting on the motive and
standard of death
– The purpose of morality is to
teach you, not to suffer and
die, but to enjoy yourself and
live
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– Rand says the moral code many live
by provides a consolation prize and
booby trap
– For your own happiness, you
must serve the happiness of
others, the only way to
achieve joy is to give it up to
others
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– If you find no joy in this, it is your own
fault and the proof of your evil
– Why is it moral to serve the happiness
of others, but not your own?
– If enjoyment is a value, why
is it moral when experienced
by others, but immoral when
experienced by you
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– When need is the standard, every
man is both victim and parasite
– He must labor to fill the needs of
others, leaving himself in the
position of a parasite whose
needs must be filled by others
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– There is no mouthful of food you
swallow that is not needed by
someone, somewhere on earth
– Guilt is all that you retain
within your soul
– No wonder why this morality
has not achieved brotherhood on earth or the good
will of man to man
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– Do you owe your love to those who
don’t deserve it?
– And unless they deserve it, the more
love you owe them?
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– Since childhood, you have been
hiding the guilty secret that you feel
no desire to be moral, that you dread
and hat your code, but dare
not say it eve to yourself, that
you are devoid of those moral
instincts, which others profess
to feel
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– The less you felt, the louder you
proclaimed your selfless love an
servitude to others , in dread of ever
letting them discover your
own self, the self that you
betrayed, the self that you
kept in concealment, like a
skeleton in the closet of your
body
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– Existence among you is a giant
pretense, and act you all perform for
one another, each feeling that he is
the only guilty freak, each
placing his moral authority
in the unknowable known
only to others, each faking
the reality he feels they
expect him to fake
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– None having the courage to break
the vicious circle
– So, discard the protective rages of
that vice that you call virtue,
learn to value yourself, fight
for your happiness and learn
to live like a man
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Ethics and Egoism
• In Defense of Ethical Egoism/Rand
– To demand is to claim that your life is
his property
– This is a loathsome claim
– But something that is still more
loathsome is your agreement
to it
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Universal Ethical Egoism is the theory
that everyone ought always to serve
his or her own interest
– Everyone ought to do what
will maximize one’s own
expected utility or bring
about one’s own greatest
happiness, even if it requires
harming others
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Ayn Rand believes that selfishness is a
virtue and altruism is a vice
– Ethical Egoism prescribes that we seek
our own happiness exclusively
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– But even a predominant egoist would
admit that sometimes the best way to
reach self fulfillment is for us to forget
about ourselves and strive to
live for goals, causes or other
persons
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Even the Second Commandment
states, not that your must always
sacrifice yourself for the other person,
but that your ought to love
your neighbor as yourself
– Self interest and self love are
morally good things, but not
at the expense of other
people’s legitimate interests
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– The heart of ethical egoism is that our
highest moral duty is always to
promote our individual interests
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Criticisms of Ethical Egoism
•Inconsistent
– Moral principles must be
universal
– An egoist must always
come out on top
– But I must also realize
others need to be on top
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Criticisms of Ethical Egoism
•Inconsistent
– This is an incompatible outcome
– According to Egoism
there is no method to
solve this inconsistency
– So, there is no moral
principle
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Criticisms of Ethical Egoism
•Publicity Argument
– Unless Egoism is publicized, they
can not serve as guides
to action or aids to
resolve conflicts
– It is not in the Egoists self
interest to publicize their
interests (self defeating)
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Criticisms of Ethical Egoism
•Paradox of Egoism
– In order to reach the goal of
egoism one must give
up egoism and become
an altruist, the very
antithesis of egoism
– Friendship
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Criticisms of Ethical Egoism
•Counterintuitive Consequence
– Whenever I do not have good
evidence that my
helping you will end up
to my advantage, I
must refrain from
helping you
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Criticisms of Ethical Egoism
•Counterintuitive Consequence
– If I can save the whole world
from destruction by
pressing a button, but
there is no gain in it for
me, it is wrong for me
to press that button
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Evolution and Altruism
•Morality can be seen as an
evolutionary strategy for gene
replication
•Birds are afflicted with life
endangering parasites
•They depend on mutual
grooming
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Evolution and Altruism
•Two types of birds have developed
– Those who are disposed to
groom anyone (Suckers)
– Those who refuse to
groom anyone (Cheaters)
•Suckers will do fairly well,
but Cheaters will not survive
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Evolution and Altruism
•In the Sucker population a mutant
Cheater will survive and will prosper
•As the Suckers are exploited
they will eventually die out
•But when there are too
few Sucker to groom the
Cheaters the Cheaters will
die off and become extinct
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Evolution and Altruism
•There is a third type of bird called
the Grudger who groom all, but
only those who reciprocate
in grooming them
•They groom each other and
Suckers, but not Cheaters
•They don’t waste time with
unappreciative Cheaters
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Evolution and Altruism
•They are not exploited and have
ample energy to gather food and
build better nests for their
loved ones
•The real name for Suckers
is Christians, who believe in
complete altruism
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Evolution and Altruism
•Cheaters are ruthless egoists
•Grudgers are reciprocal altruists
(you scratch my back…)
•Suckers advocate turning
the other cheek and
repaying evil with good
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Ethics and Egoism
• Egoism and Altruism/Pojman
– Evolution and Altruism
•We have duties to cooperate and
reciprocate, but no duty to serve
those who manipulate us
nor an obvious duty to
sacrifice ourselves for
people outside our
domain of special
responsibility
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– 150,000 children die every day from
malnutrition
– We spend money on ourselves for the
necessities of life, but for
luxuries also
– Could we forgo these luxuries
and give money to famine
relief instead?
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– Most of us would probably be a little
bit embarrassed and would say we
should do more for famine relief
– But the truth is we hardly
ever think of this situation
•What is our duty?
•What should we do?
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– Most of the time we look out for our
own interests
– But at the same time we understand
that the needs of others are
important
– When we can help others
(and there is little cost to
ourselves) we should do so
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– We have natural duties to others
– If there is a certain action that would
benefit other people, then that is a
reason why we should do
that action
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– Others have maintained that we have
no natural duty to others
– Ethical Egoism is the idea
that each person ought to
pursue his own self interest
exclusively
– We have no moral duty
except to do what is best
for ourselves
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– Ethical Egoism is the radical view that
one’s only duty is to promote one’s
own interests
– The theory insists only that in
such cases the benefit to
others is not what makes the
act right
– What is right is that it is to
one’s advantage
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– In Favor of Ethical Egoism
•Each of us is intimately familiar with
our own individual wants & needs
•Each of us is uniquely
placed to pursue those
wants & needs effectively
•We are not well suited to
satisfy the needs of others
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– In Favor of Ethical Egoism
•If we set out to be our brothers
keeper we are sure to fail
•The policy of looking out
for others is an intrusion
into other people’s privacy
•Making other people the
object of one’s charity is
degrading to them
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– In Favor of Ethical Egoism
•But when we feed hungry children
are we really “butting in” or
“deprive people of their
self respect”?
•Are starving people
harmed when we intrude
into their business
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– Arguments Against Ethical Egoism
•Ethical Egoism advocates that
each of us divide the world into two
categories of people
– Ourselves (these
interests are important)
– All the rest (these
interests are not
important)
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– Arguments Against Ethical Egoism
•Why am I more important?
– More intelligent?
– I enjoy life more?
– My accomplishments
are greater?
•Ethical Egoism is an
arbitrary doctrine like
racism
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Ethics and Egoism
• Critique of Ethical Egoism/Rachels
– Arguments Against Ethical Egoism
•We should care about the interests
of other people for the very same
reason we care about
our own interests; their
needs and desires are
comparable to our own
•If our needs should be
met, so should theirs
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