Philosophy 201~ Ethics
Tuesday, 1/21
Psychological Egoism

~*Psychological Egoism*~ How we are
-descriptive theory
-human nature

***Arguments for Psychological Egoism***
1)Everyone is motivated to act by desire
2)Fulfilling desires is selfish
3)Everyone is selfish

***Criticism for Psychological Egoism***
1)Unfalsifiable:
-not making significant claim
-empty excuses
2)Selfish vs. self-interested
fulfillfulness:
-yours only vs. yours and others...
-who benefits from your desires??
3)Problems of language:
-selfish has no meaning if the word
unselfish has no meaning.
4)Consequences:
-Charles Manson is no worse than
Mother Teresa

Note:
*~Ted Bundy- Selfish
*~Mother Teresa: Helping others, yet
doing what she wants to do-
Self-interested
*~Assume fulfilling desires is always in
your self-interest. It matter what
those desires are and who they benefit,
you or others too?
*~Calvinism: Psychological but not
ethical egoism- "Total Depravity"