Consider.... Ethical Egoism Rachels Suppose you hire an attorney to defend your interests in a dispute with your neighbor. In a court of law, the assumption is that in pursuing each client s interest, the facts of the case will all be revealed. But, suppose your attorney thinks helping others is a moral ideal and decides to help your neighbor s counsel strengthen his case. Is this right? Shouldn t your attorney serve your interests at the exclusion of your neighbor s? Is it not only acceptable but isn t your attorney serving solely your interests a good thing? Is there a parallel in ethics? 1 2 Consider.... Theories about Human Motivations Consider all those actions you think are good. Isn t it the case that these actions achieve some end which you think is valuable? If you find some end to be valuable, doesn t that mean that you desire this end? Psychological egoism: every human action is motivated by selfinterest Psychological altruism: every human action is motivated by concern for others Both are descriptive claims: claims about what is the case Can t we then say that those actions you think are good are those that you desire? If so, are your ethics based on satisfying your own desires? Ethical Egoism: one ought to pursue one s own self-interest Ethical Egoism is a normative claim about what ought to be the case 3 4
Prisoner's Dilemma Prisoner s Dilemma Matrix You have just been arrested for committing a horrible crime. Arrested at the same time and for the same crime is your associate. You are both being interrogated separately and neither of you knows what the other is saying. You and the other suspect both know that if neither of you confess, the case is weak and each of you will receive a minor sentence on lesser charges. In this case, the sentence is only 5 years in prison. If you both confess, then you will be convicted of the crime and each will receive 20 years in prison. If only one of you confess and testifies against the other, the one who did not cooperate will get life in prison and the one who confessed will go free. What would you do? Would you confess? What is in your best interest? What is in your associate's best interests? Y O U Don t Confess Confess Strategies and Consequences Don t Confess Your Associate 5 yrs. 5 yrs. Life Free Life 20 yrs. Confess Free 20 yrs. 5 6 Confess or Don t Confess Prisoner s Dilemma #2 Given the payoff, what should each subject do: confess or not confess? Is confessing or not confessing in one s self-interest? What does this case tell us about how you ought to act? What if each subject knows that a confession will result in your death because you ve sworn to a secret society never to confess your crimes. How does this fact change the payoff? What course of action is in your best interest? in your associates? Is the course of action that serves your best interest different than the course of action that serves both you and your associate s interests? 7 8
Prisoner s Dilemma #2 Difference between Dilemmas In the first dilemma, acting in accordance with one s selfinterests seems to be the best course of action Your Associate In the second dilemma with the constraint not to confess, acting in accordance with one s interests is consistent with the group s (your and your associate s) interests Y O U Don t Confess Confess Don t Confess 5 yrs. 5 yrs. Life Death Life Confess Death 20 yrs. & 20 yrs. Death & Death In the second dilemma, making certain outcomes worse for the individual actually benefits the group Do these dilemmas endorse the claim that one ought to act in accordance with one s interests? Do some moral prohibitions exist because they benefit humanity or even the survival of the species? 9 10 Ethical Egoism Dual Benefits Definition: the ethical stance that one ought to pursue one's own self-interests Psychological Egoism: stance that all one's actions are motivated by self-interest Even if PE is true, it does not mean that one ought to pursue one's self-interests What if your actions serve both your interests and the interests of others? What should you do? Is there a problem if one s interests coincide with someone else s or with some groups? 11 12
Long-term Interests Three Arguments for Ethical Egoism Ethical Egoism does not endorse the pursuit of any and all selfinterested actions. What are some actions that might be pleasurable, but not in one's interests? Are there some actions that might not be pleasurable in the shortterm but in one's interests in the long-term? 1. Altruism is Self-defeating 2. Rand's Individualism 3. Ethical Egoism is Compatible with Commonsense Ethical Egoism says that one's sole duty is to seek one's own interests, over the long-term 13 14 1. Altruism is Self-defeating 2. Rand's Individualism We should not attend to the needs of others because we do not really know what those needs are. Any attempt we make to help others will likely show disrespect, invade their privacy, or do more harm than good. So, altruism is self-defeating. Self-interest is the standard for morality and altruism is the deepest immorality Self-interest is to view oneself as an end in oneself Rachel's version: 1. We ought to do whatever will best promote everyone's interests. 2. The best way to promote everyone's interests is for each of us to adopt the policy of pursuing our own interests exclusively. one's life and happiness are one's highest values one is not a slave or servant to other's interests the responsibility of sustaining and enhancing one's life is one's own Altruism denies the value of the individual 3. Therefore, each of us should adopt the policy of pursuing our own interests exclusively. Altruist people live off the efforts, products and energy of the Individual 15 16
Rand and Reason in Rand's Self-interested Virtues The means of living one's life is reason Capacity for reason is what allows one to survive and prosper We learn what is good for us and how to achieve it--we are not born with this knowledge Rational self-interest: one uses reason to identify what is or is not in one's self-interest Virtues are the principles for acting; they are acquired character traits which reflect and promote one's self-interests Rationality: acting in accordance with reason Productiveness: producing what one needs for survival and life Honesty: commitment to an awareness of facts Independence: one must think and act on one's own Using reason, one takes into account all the factors one can identify, considers the consequences of potential actions, and adopts principles for acting Integrity: commitment to thinking and acting on one's own and according to one's own principles Justice: judging people, and oneself, according to their values and acting according to these judgments; it is unjust to give to people more or less than what they deserve 17 18 Rachel's Argument Against Rand 3. Ethical Egoism is Compatible with Commonsense Rand: Ethical Egoism values the individual and is the moral principle one ought to adopt Rachel's criticizes the characterization of altruism If altruism really entails that one sacrifice oneself for others or that one's life has no value, then Ethical Egoism is attractive Why think altruism does make such a claim? If there is no reason, then the argument has established a false dichotomy Ethical Egoist observes that morality tends to offer a set of rules; e.g., don't lie, don't kill, etc. Is there some common thread that exists underneath all these rules? EE says that the fundamental principle underlying all moral duties is self-interest. 19 20
Commonsense Explanations for Moral Duties Problems with the Commonsense Approach Duty not to harm others Benefit to self: benefits us not to harm others because we are treated well by others, we'll have friends, and we are not likely to go to jail Argument not strong enough--needs to show that it is always to our advantage to not harm others, not simply that in most cases it is to our advantage not to harm others Duty not to lie Benefit to self: benefits us to tell the truth because we'll gain other's trust, build relationships, and maintain a good reputation Golden Rule?: do unto others because if you do then they will do likewise to you Serving one's interests may not be the fundamental reason for not harming others--one may think harming others is just a bad thing Argument doesn't show that the only reason to not harm others or to tell the truth is to serve one's self-interest 21 22 Three Arguments Against Ethical Egoism 1. Cannot Handle Conflicts of Interest 1. Cannot Handle Conflicts of Interest Baier's presidential candidates example 2. Logically Inconsistent Conflict results in each trying to kill the other 3. Unacceptably Arbitrary Baier's example works against EE only if one assumes that morality must decide conflicts of interest EE could claim that morality is not how Baier assumes Is there another response to Baier's example? 23 24
2. Logically Inconsistent Rachel's Reformulation Is EE Logically Inconsistent? 1. Suppose it is each person's duty to do what is in his own best interests. 2. It is in B's best interest to liquidate K. 3. It is in K's best interest to prevent B from liquidating him. 4. Therefore, B's duty is it to liquidate K, and K's duty is to prevent B from doing it. 5. But it is wrong to prevent someone from doing his duty. 6. Therefore, it is wrong for K to prevent B from liquidating him. 7. Therefore, it is both wrong and not wrong for K to prevent B from liquidating him. 8. But no act can be both wrong and not wrong; that is a self-contradiction. Logical inconsistency arises from principle of EE and premise 5, "that it is wrong to prevent someone from doing his duty" Is it wrong to prevent someone from doing his duty? How would the Ethical Egoist respond? Does this criticism defeat EE? 9. Therefore, the assumption with which we started--that it is each person's duty to do what is in his own best interests--cannot be true. 25 26 3. Unacceptably Arbitrary Return of the Prisoner s Dilemma Rachels: EE divides the world into two groups oneself and all others Does the Prisoner s Dilemma suffer from Rachel s three problems? What makes oneself more special than everyone else? Is there a relevant difference between oneself and everyone else that would justify treating oneself differently than the way one would treat others? If so, then EE is not arbitrary. If not, then EE is arbitrary. Is there a factual difference that justifies difference in treatment? Are the interests of others similar to one's own interests? Are there conflicts of interest in the prisoner s dilemma? Do both cases suffer from conflicts of interest? Is there any logical inconsistency in the example? Is the scenario unacceptably arbitrary? Is there reason for treating oneself differently in each of the cases? Is there justification for treating oneself differently? Given the Prisoner s Dilemma, what might we say about Rachel s criticisms and his case against Ethical Egoism? 27 28
Return of the Prisoner s Dilemma In the second dilemma, the knowledge and beliefs about the consequences of confessing changed the subject s views about what was in their self-interest. Might one s self-interests reflect how one views oneself? one s social group? one s place in a social group? the size of the social group in which the action is affecting? If one considers the social group to determine what is in accordance with one s self-interests, then one might act in one s self interest when acting in the group s interests. Does this broader construal of one s interests weaken Ethical Egoism? 29