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1 SELF AND OTHERS

2 SYNTHESE LIBRARY STUDIES IN EPISTEMOLOGY, LOGIC, METHODOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Managing Editor: JAAKKO HINTIKKA, Florida State University, Tallahassee Editors: DONALD DAVIDSON, University oj California, Berkeley GABRIEL NUCHELMANS, University oj Leyden WESLEY C. SALMON, University oj Pittsburgh VOLUME 196

3 J AN OSTERBERG Uppsa/a University, Sweden SELF AND OTHERS A Study of Ethical Egoism KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS DORDRECHT I BOSTON I LONDON

4 Library of Congress CataJoging-in-Publication Data Osterberg, Jan, Self and others. (Synthese library; v. 196) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Egoism. 2. Ethics. I. Title. II. Series. BJl ' ISBN-I 3 : DOl: / e-isbn-13: Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands Kluwer Academic Publishers incorporates the publishing programmes of D. Reidel, Martinus Nijhoff, Dr W. Junk and MTP press. Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 101 Philip Drive, Norwell, MA 02061, U.S.A. In all other countries, sold and distributed by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands All Rights Reserved 1988 by Kluwer Academic Publishers Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1988 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My interest in moral philosophy was originally aroused by Ingemar Hedenius. He suggested that I should write my doctoral thesis on Sidgwick. I soon became interested in what Sidgwick regarded as the fundamental normative problem, viz. that both the claims of Morality and those of Egoism appear reasonable. This essay is the outcome of my attempt to resolve this 'Dualism of the Practical Reason'. Many people have helped me. Lars Bergstrom has been my supervisor during most of my time as a postgraduate. Without his support and encouragement this book would never have been written, and without his advice and criticism it would have been much worse. Earlier drafts of the essay have been discussed in Lars Bergstrom's seminar. Lars Bergstrom, Sven Danielsson, Wlodek Rabinowicz, Thanos Sarafidis, and Bertil Stromberg pointed out a number of errors and suggested improvements. Several other people have helpfully commented on the text: Thorild Dahlquist read and made valuable comments on Chapter 1 and part of Chapter 10. Howard Sobel, who acted as the Faculty Opponent when an earlier version of the essay was submitted as a doctoral thesis to Uppsala University, offered detailed and trenchant criticism. Mats Furberg pointed out several stylistic infelicities. Paul Needham checked and improved my English and also suggested substantial improvements. Stig Kanger gave invaluable help and support of many kinds, intellectual as well as practical. The manuscript was typed by Marianne Carlstedt, Ulla Carlstedt, and Dagmar Kanger (who generously sacrificed her spare time to this task). Bengt Molander and Birgit Lindstrom assisted with the proof-reading. Erik Jonson and Zalma Puterman assisted with the publication of the earlier mimeographed version. To all these people, whose generous assistance has sometimes made me doubt that Sidgwick's problem is a live issue, I am deeply grateful.

6 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I should also like to express my gratitude to Burmans docent-stipendiefond and to Kungl. Humanistiska Vetenskaps-Samfundet i Uppsala for grants that made the publication of this essay possible. Uppsala, December 1987 JAN OSTERBERG

7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements... vii Introduction The Aim of This Essay Kinds of Egoism The Plan of This Essay Terminology and Conventions... 7 PART I PRELIMINARY MATTERS Chapter 1. A Short History of Ethical Egoism Preliminary Remarks Classical Times From Thomas Aquinas to Nietzsche From Hobbes to Sidgwick Hobbes Butler Sidgwick After Sidgwick Ethical Egoism and Individualistic Society Chapter 2. Kinds of Ethical Egoism Introduction Forms of Ethical Egoism Interpretations of Ethical Egoism... ; The Subjective Conception of Intrinsic Value Chapter 3. The Interpretation of Strong Egoism Self-Regarding Egoism or Butlerian Egoism? Eudaimonistic Egoism or Preference Egoism? Time-Neutral Egoism: A First Objection Time-Neutral Egoism: A Second Objection... 63

8 x TABLE OF CONTENTS PART II THE DEBATE ON ETHICAL EGOISM Chapter 4. Arguments for Ethical Egoism Introduction The Argument from Psychological Egoism The Argument from Biology Some Other Arguments Arguments and Presuppositions Chapter 5. Normative and Semantic Objections Normative Objections The Argument from 'Morality' The Argument from 'Morally Ought' Moore's Objection Baumer's Objection The Argument from Joint Performability Daniels' Objection The Argument from Moral Help Chapter 6. Pragmatic and Other Objections The Argument from Self-Subvertingness The Argument from Indirect Self-Defeatingness The Argument from Assentability The Argument from Pragmatic Inconsistency Ethical Egoism and Society Ethical Egoism and the Self PART III THE ASSESSMENT OF ETHICAL EGOISM Chapter 7. The Strong Form of Ethical Egoism The Argument from Joint Satisfiability Joint Satisfiability and Agent-Relativity The Argument from Self-Defeatingness The Argument from Pareto-Optimal Equilibria Nietzschean Egoism Chapter 8. Weak Forms of Egoism Introduction

9 TABLE OF CONTENTS xi 8.2. Egoism as a Lexically Ordered Principle Egoism as a Co-Ordinated Principle Rule Egoism Chapter 9. Ethical Egoism and Rationality The Received Conception of Rational Action The Argument from Rationality Gauthier's Proposal My Proposal PART IV A LAST RESORT Chapter 10. Collective Egoism The Collectivistic Conception of Morality Game Theory and the Interpretation of Collective Egoism A Tentative Interpretation of Collective Egoism Ethical Egoism and Metaphysical Individualism Concluding Remarks Notes Bibliography Index (names and subjects)