Ethical Egoism

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“People act for many reasons; but for whom, or what, do or should they act—for themselves, for God, or for the good of the planet?” (Moseley) An egoist would argue that one acts for one’s own self. More specifically, an ethical egoist is one who thrives to improve ones own self being, with much respect to morality. Ethical Egoism is the theory that one should pursue his or her own interest above all the rest. It is the idea that all persons should act from their own self interest in relation to morality.

There are many different types of ethical egoism: Personal ethical egoism, Individual ethical egoism, Universal ethical egoism, Categorical egoism, and Hypothetical egoism. Personal ethical egoism is the belief that one should act for ones’ self without concern to the actions of others. Though this is not completely a theory on its own, because it is not generalized, doing so would be going against ones own self interest. For example, if one believes that personal ethical egoism should be recommended to others, then that person would not exactly be promoting their own self interest because that person would also be looking out for the self interest of others. Individual ethical egoism is the belief that all persons should act towards my self interest. For example, a man says that he is doing something for his own beneficiary, and his friend should do it as well to help him, instead of the friend looking out for his own self. If the individual egoist cannot broaden his policy, than he has no policy at all. This idea is not generalized, since each person demands the needs of his or her own. Universal ethical egoism states that all persons should follow their own benefits selectively, but in doing so, humans might not know what i...

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... lives one life, and if they are so busy as to tend to the needs and wants of others, then their entire life went in vain.

Works Cited Page

1) Christians, Clifford G., and John Calhoun Merrill. Ethical Communication: Moral Stances in Human Dialogue. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri, 2009. Print.

2) Gauthier, David P. "Part II." Morality and Rational Self-interest. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1970. 58-63. Print.

3) Shafer-Landau, Russ. "Chapter 8." The Fundamentals of Ethics. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. 100-11. Print.

4) Moseley, Alexander. "Egoism [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 7 Aug. 2005. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. .

5) "Ethical Egoism." Philosophy Home Page. Lander University, 9 Oct. 2009. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. .

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