PHL 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Egotism
31 Oct 2017
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Or do we behave (cid:440)altruistically(cid:441) or do we all have self interest motivating us? we could be looking for recognition, avoiding guilt, etc. The claim that all human actions are motivated. Psychological egoism: (and can only be motivated) ultimately by self-regarding desires or self interest. If we reject psychological egoism, we are claiming that not all human actions are motivated by self interest. ex- altruism, sense of duty/responsibility. Example of refutations of psychological egoism: anonymous donations to faraway countries. Hedonistic psychological egoism: (including altruistic ones) are done for his/her own pleasure. It would be false to infer from the mere presence of pleasure in action, that getting the pleasure was the . It would be a confusion to think that psychological egoism follows simply from the fact that whenever i voluntarily help someone i am doing what i desire to be doing at that moment. that does not imply egoism.
