Egoism is the theory that ones self is, or should be, the motivation of ones actions. There are two main forms of egoism, ethical egoism and psychological egoism. Each approach has been argued amongst philosophers. Their studies describe what each theory is and apply them to real world situations.
Psychological egoism is the belief that an individual will only act in what is considered their best interest. A psychological egoist’s behavior is always influenced by their desires, and herein lays the fallacy of psychological egoism (n.d.) If psychological egoists only do what is in their best interest, they will never act in another person’s interest. If psychological egoists donate money to a charity instead of spending that money on them, they contradict the theory. Donating money benefits others, not themselves. In order to prove that psychological egoism is true, one must always act in their own self interest. It is impossible to prove donating money only promotes their self interest since the act benefits others (n.d.) The motivating factor of a psychological egoist is purely selfishness: a psychological egoist will fulfill their needs without regard for others.
Unlike psychological egoism, the theory of ethical egoism states that an individual should act in what is their best interest. There are three different forms of ethical egoism: individual, personal, and universal. An individual ethical egoist believes that all people should do what benefits them; a personal ethical egoist believes that a person should do what is in their best interest, but does not make claims regarding what others should do. Finally a universal egoist believes that everyone should act in what is in their own interests (Wikipedia, 2009.) Of ethical egoism, James Rachels states, “Each of us is intimately familiar with our own individual wants and needs. Moreover, each of us is uniquely placed to pursue those wants and needs effectively. At the same time, we know the desires and needs of others only imperfectly, and we are not well situated to pursue them. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that if we set out to be ‘our brother’s keeper,’ we would often bungle the job and end up doing more mischief than good (Wikipedia, 2009.”) Ethical egoists are motivated according to their welfare: what is best for them despite the consequences.
There are two versions of ethical egoism, strong and weak. Strong ethical egoism states that it is always right to act in ones own self interest and never right not to do so. Weak ethical egoism states that it is always right to act in ones self interest, but not necessarily never right not to do so (n.d.) If you consider strong ethical egoism, it is never right not to act in your own self interest. Let’s say you are second in line for the throne. You want to be ruler and the only person standing in your way is your sibling. Your parent, the current ruler, is very ill. You plot to kill your sibling and take the throne when your parent passes. It is in your self interest to remove the barrier in your way. You kill your sibling; because according to strong egoism it is never right to not act in your self interest. It does not appear that conscience can exist in a strong ethical egoist; likewise in weak ethical egoism, it is not necessarily never right not to act in your best interest. It could be argued that weak ethical egoist can have a conscience which may allow them to act in a way that is not necessarily in their best interest.
The differences between psychological and ethical egoism are psychological egoist act instinctually and ethical egoists pursue their interests because it is moral to do so. Think of a toddler. A toddler acts instinctually and could be thought of as psychological egoist: fulfilling their needs without regard to another. Now, think of a teenager. A teenager knows what is right and wrong. They pursue their interest because it is moral to do so. Both theories are selfish in nature but do not necessarily reflect selfishness (Vita, 2007.) Selfishness is acting without regard or thought for others, hence the toddler. A toddler will instinctively take a toy from another without any regard for the other child. Self interest is acting in your best interest with full thought of how your actions affect others whether right or wrong, hence the teenager. The teenager may take the toy because they want it, but understand the affect it has on the other child. They take the toy because it benefits them to do so.
Wikipedia, 2009, Ethical Egoism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_egoism
(n.d.) Lecture 4 – Ethical Egoism http://www.angelfire.com/ab3/freewill/CMILecture4.htm
Ethan Vita, 2007, On Selfishness and Self Interest, http://ethanleevita.blogspot.com/2007/12/on-selfishness-and-self-interest.html
