PHIL 1550 Chapter 7: ch 7 - psychological egoism
10 Feb 2017
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Enters cave when trying to catch up w/ his flock. Finds golden ring makes him invisible. He goes to town, kills the king, captures the throne, & weds the queen. *if we had the power to do as we liked, we would always seek out our own best interests, no matter that harms we caused. Psychological egoism: the view that all human actions are motivated by self-interested, & that altruism is impossible. Altruism: the direct care & concern to improve the well-being of someone other than yourself. Everyone is driven by self-interest to save the lives of others. Claim that actions are never done from altruistic motives. Aims to describe the facts & limits of human motivation, rather than prescribe the standards that we ought to live up to. * cannot refute this kind of egoism just by pointing to examples. All human actions are aimed @ avoiding some personal loss.
