Blackwell Reference Online

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P hilosophy of mind, philosophy of action The position that by nature people pursue what they believe to be in their self-interest and are by nature egoistic. Certainly, people may sacrifice their immediate and obvious self-interests but only if doing so is a means to a longer-term self-interested goal. This is a psychological theory about the dispositions and motivations of human nature, rather than an ethical position about the moral virtue of these motivations and consequent behavior. For this reason, ethical egoism is also called normative egoism. Psychological egoism provides a basis for ethical egoism, and, if it is true, all versions of ethical altruism are psychologically groundless. Yet it is hard to prove that psychological egoism is true, and critics maintain that we are also motivated by non-egoistic desires. “Psychological egoism … can be formulated as follows: A person can perform an act only if that act has at least as much agent utility as any alternative.” Feldman, Introductory Ethics ... log in or subscribe to read full text