Ethical egoism theory

Ethical egoism is a normative position that the agents of morals seem to do according to their selfish interest. The argument based on ethical egoism theory converges with that of psychological egoism. For instance, if your personal interests are not satisfied then you don’t have the moral obligation to do the thing hence you will not morally act devoted to other people’s welfare (Shafer-Landau, 157). There are two arguments that are intuitively interpreted to support the ethical egoism. This paper is defending the theory of ethical egoism against criticism by use of an example.

Obviously people do what is good for them. For example, an individual may be hungry and has no food but his neighbor has a packet of chips, he takes his neighbors chips and eats that is a good for him and good to do. Observations have it that the nature of human is self-interest. As I am an individual, my interest is what is best for me. The theory argues that an individual’s deeds are not expected to promote the interests of others as it is disobeying the nature of human beings.

Assuming that, an individual is hungry, and his neighbor is hungry as well. He offers his friend with chips and leaves himself without any chips. The offer of giving chips to his friend is giving the individual a feeling of satisfaction. It is the rightful thing to do as well as a satisfying thing to do. The ideology is that, doing according to their interest will result directly in what is good for everyone.

In conclusion, the argument suggests that the required binding needs an individual to have enough reasons to do something that serves your irresistible interests. Good morals are the vital point of the obligations. For example, you have a good reason to help a drowning child in shallow water to avoid the harm. To believe that ethical egoism is true has numerous reasons but conversely it has fewer reasons to think that it is false. The above example illustrates how the theory of egoism is not self-contradicting. Thus, it can be concluded that there are no flaws in the ethical egoism theory (Shafer-Landau, 160).

References

Shafer-Landau, Russ. Ethical Theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007. Print. Shafer-Landau, Russ. Ethical Theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007. Print.