PHIL 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Rational Egoism, International Volunteering, Psychological Egoism
THEORY 2
Assumptions in Morality:
We assume that we have an obligation to consider the welfare of other
people when we decide what actions to perform and what rules to obey
•
Refrain from harming others
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People are not wholly selfish and that they sometimes act in the interests
of others
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The Ring of Gyges:
Plato's Republic Book II
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Glaucon
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What do you think would happen if someone had a ring of invisibility?
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Give the ring to a man of virtue and to a rogue
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Glaucon suggests that the man of virtue will behave no better than the
rogue
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What reason is there for him to continue being "moral" when it is clearly
not to his own advantage to do so?
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Psychological egoism: a view about human nature that all people are
selfish in everything that they do
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Ethical egoism: a normative view that because people are all selfish in
everything that they do that they ought act selfishly
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Such thing as "unselfish behavior?"
Madison cancels her plans to Vegas so she can help her friend move
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Still motivated by self-interest
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Argument 1:
Argument 1: the agent is still doing what he or she most wants to do
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Reply: the argument rests on the premise that people never voluntarily do
anything except what they want to do
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Argument 2: actions that we do not for the ends but because we feel an
obligation to do them (fulfilling promises)
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Selfish Defined:
It is the object of a want that determines whether it is selfish or not
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Egoism and Moral Skepticism
Monday,)September) 18,)2017
8:35)AM
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
We assume that we have an obligation to consider the welfare of other people when we decide what actions to perform and what rules to obey. People are not wholly selfish and that they sometimes act in the interests of others. Give the ring to a man of virtue and to a rogue. Glaucon suggests that the man of virtue will behave no better than the rogue. Psychological egoism: a view about human nature that all people are selfish in everything that they do. Ethical egoism: a normative view that because people are all selfish in everything that they do that they ought act selfishly. Madison cancels her plans to vegas so she can help her friend move. Argument 1: the agent is still doing what he or she most wants to do. Reply: the argument rests on the premise that people never voluntarily do anything except what they want to do.
