Arguments Against Psychological Egoism

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Psychological egoism is the view that all human action is ultimately motivated only by self-interest. Some argue for the truth of psychological egoism on the basis of the claim that in every case of human action “the agent is merely doing what he most wants to do” (Rachels 73). Rachels contends, however, that this argument for psychological egoism fails. Rachels advances two counter-arguments.
Rachels argues, first, that one will undertake actions that one will not want to do just so that they can meet the desired ends. For example, one may be very sick and running a high fever. This person may also hate the very essence of being around anyone else that is sick. However, in order for them to get better, they need to go to the doctor to get their ailment alleviated with the proper medication. This person clearly undertook an action they did not want to do; however, to reach a desirable outcome they had to go through an unfavorable …show more content…

Rachels argues that there are unselfish wants, such as the desire to help others that can motivate a person to act in a way that benefits not only themselves, but others around them as well. To explain further, there are two concepts to understand when it comes to desire. The first is the source of the want; which is always one’s self. No matter what a person desires; the source of the desire is always themself, it comes from within. With that said, the second concept is the source of the want. This can be explained as the “why,” it concerns why a person wants what they do. When a person wants something, what distinguishes the selfish from the unselfish is the source of the want. For example, if a person wants to cure cancer, if they only want to do it for fame, they are selfish. If a different person wants to cure cancer to save lives, then the argument that they are selfish does not stand on the same grounds as the aforementioned

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