Is self-interest immoral?
In this second essay from PHIL239: Moral Philosophy, Emily Elridge (BA Philosophy with
Criminology) considers ethical egoism and whether it can be the morally correct reason for acting.
This essay will explore whether self-interest (or ethical egoism) can be
the morally right reason for acting. Ethical egoism holds that there are
no natural duties owed to other people and that “our only duty is to do
what is best for ourselves” (Rachels, 2018, p.77). Ethical egoism is a
normative ethical theory in that it is concerned with how people ought to
behave rather than seeking to explain how they do behave.
Acting out of self-interest requires us to do what is best for ourselves,
whereas ‘ordinary morality’ requires “we balance our interests against
the interests of others” (Rachels, 2018, p.77). Ordinary morality holds
that the interests of others matter because we have “natural duties” to
them (Rachels, 2018, p.77) rather than duties arising out of promises we
have made or other obligations that we have.
We will evaluate the argument that ethical egoism can improve society
as a whole and therefore be considered moral but conclude that this is
not persuasive. We evaluate Rand’s argument that altruism is “a totally
destructive morality” (Rachels, 2018, p.81) and that egoism is the only
morality which respects the individual. It will be granted that ethical
egoism has appeal as it “accepts common sense morality” (Rachels,
2018, p.82) and see that it does not necessarily endorse wicked acts.
However, two key objections to egoism are identified which might
undermine its merits for morality. Firstly, building on the work of Baier,
it will be argued that ethical egoism is not acceptable because it cannot
provide solutions for conflicts of interest. Secondly, ethical egoism
requires that we divide society into ‘me and everyone else’ and holds
that my interests take priority over everyone else’s. Rachels sees this
as an arbitrary doctrine and therefore unacceptable. It will be concluded
that although self-interest is a “challenging theory…and it is not easy to
refute” (Rachels, 2018, p.78) there are compelling reasons to show that
it cannot be the morally correct reason for acting.
The type of ethical egoism we are concerned with is what Baier calls “the
enlightened egoist” (Baier, 1958, p.2). This egoist “knows that he cannot
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