Analysis of Ethical Egoism and Psychological Egoism

When dealing with the field of modern ethics there are two theories that stand out. Both Psychological Egoism and Ethical Egoism have been analyzed and looked at by a number of philosophers. Their studies show what each theory is, its applications in real world situations, and its support and critiques. The two theories will be discussed in terms of differences between them and, contrasts in the doctrines of motivation.

Ethical Egoists care mainly about themselves; they primarily think about how they can benefit from each station. They also believe that life shouldn't involve sacrifices. They don't believe that they should sacrifice themselves for anyone and no one should sacrifice themselves for them. The reason for this is that they interpret sacrifices as saying that you are better than someone else or that someone else is better than you. They believe that selfness is their key virtue. " You ought always act selfish" which can be interpreted as looking out for your own personal interest. They believe that we should not help people, because people should know what is best for them selves. Ethical Egoists only act on what will benefit them. For example they might call a friend who is sick, because they want to make sure that someone will be calling them when they are sick. Acting selfishly creates a better world, in their opinion. They believe that most people are selfish; they just don't admit it.

There are three types of Ethical Egoism. The first type is called Personal Ethical Egoism; this is where a person says "I am going to act only in my own interest." The second is called Individual Ethical Egoism; this is where someone believes that everyone should act in their best interest. Finally, the third type of Ethical Egoism is Universal. This is where everyone acts in their own self-interest.

There are two versions of Ethical Egoism, a strong version and weak version. The strong version says to only watch out for your-self, because the strong version says that you should always promote yourself; if you didn't it would be morally wrong. The weak version says, "It is always moral to promote one's own good, it is not necessarily never moral not to". (Mosely, 2006).

Psychological Egoists believe that everyone acts selfishly, even when they are helping others. Everyone is motivated by self interest. This also states that what is in others' interest is also in our interest. Psychological Egoism often confuses motive and consequences. Just because we did something and get something back doesn't mean we did it just to get something back. In Psychological Egoism it is believed that the motivating doctrine is where all of our intuitions are selfish, because we are planning on getting some thing out of it. For example, when we help someone it is only to help our selves. When this is looked at it seems debatable, because if it is our desire it would then be selfish but when thinking of motivation it is more like a sense of duty.

When dealing with Ethical Egoism it appears that we act in self- interest. It could be said that your well fare is the most important form of
motivation. Psychological Egoism is almost impossible to prove right or wrong. If you accept Psychological Egoism, it is very easy to support it . If you reject it, you can turn the evidence around, and it is just as easy to prove it wrong. A difference between Ethical Egoism and Psychological Egoism is that Ethical Egoism says that we should act in self-interest, not that we must. Ethical Egoism is a much lighter and less demanding than Psychological Egoism. Ethical Egoism says that we should act selfishly, Psychological Egoism says that we do act selfishly. Self-interest, is the objective consequence.

Many people are not aware that they are acting in self- interest when they do something. From what I understand when people are helping other people and benefiting from it, they are acting in their self-interest. This is because they are not the only one who benefits from it. For example Mother Theresa acted to help people and by doing so, she got a feeling of satisfactions. Selfishness on the other hand is where people act only to benefit themselves. Selfish people do good things too, but they do them so that they will be recognized as good.

In conclusion, both theories deal with egoism and the way that humans think, but they are significantly different theories. One focuses on what it calls reality, and the other on what reality "should" be. I don't really believe in either theory all that much , but if I had to choose one I would pick Ethical Egoism, because I just don't see how everything we do is meant to be selfish.

Rachels, James (2003). The elements of Moral Philosophy. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. (Rachels 2003) Ethics Updates - Ethics Videos Catalogue http://ethics.sandiego.edu/video/Catalogue/detail.asp - 7/17/2006

Moseley, Alexander . (2006). Retrieved August 29, 2006, from Internet Encyclopedia Web site: www.utm.edu (Moseley 2006)