Castañeda, Benedick M.

GED107 – A7
CEM – 1 Assignment # 2 September 11, 2019

TOPIC: EGOISM AND HEDONISM

REFERENCE:
1. Egoism
2. Hedonism
pp. 71-75
The Ethics Toolkit: A Compendium of Ethical Concepts and Methods
Author: Julian Baggini

A. EGOISM
a. What is Egoism
It is the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to act in their own self-
interest. According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, “All sensible people are selfish”. Every
people have the right to act selfishness to satisfy their self-interest to something. If being
good and being selfish happen to require the same things, then selfishness would be
something to be celebrate.
b. Enumerate and discuss the three types of Egoism. In what ways are they different.
Psychological egoism – the thesis that we are always deep down motivated by what
we perceive to in our own self-interest. It embodies the term altruism, doing good to
other had a benefit to yourself which makes it a self-interest. Motivated to gain that
good feeling from himself.
Ethical egoism – the view that it’s always ethical to act in one’s own interest. Even
though it may be true that egoism is an efficient route to the common good in certain
contexts, it’s implausible that it’s always so. It can be individual ethical egoism and
universal ethical egoism. Individual ethical egoism is the idea everyone ought to serve
my interest. An act is good only if it benefits me. While universal ethical egoism is the
idea that everyone ought to seek their own self-interest, not just me.
Rational egoism – the principle that an action is rational if and only if it maximizes
one’s self-interest. It views that altruism and self-interest are compatible: the fact that
do-gooders know that doing good helps them in no way diminishes that extent to which
what they do is done for others.
c. Give one example for each type
 Psychological egoism – Kyle saves Pat from a burning office building. It is an example
of altruism, risking his life while saving her. But the psychological egoist is that after
his action it could benefit himself whether he is aware or not. Kyle might want to gain
a good feeling from being a hero, or to avoid social reprimand that would follow had
he not helped Pat, or something along these lines.
Ethical egoism – It is consistent with helping others. It is right to help others because
it is usually in your self-interest to help them. Even religious morality seems to base on
self-interest. Many people believe that we need to do good things because there is a
God, a heaven, a hell or a moral force like Karma that makes it in their long-term self-
interest to do good.
Rational egoism – You are one of two prisoners arrested for a crime. You, and the
other prisoner, are each rational, and you each know that if you both stay silent, and
don’t confess, you will each be convicted of a minor crime and get 2 years in jail each.
If you turn State’s evidence and the other prisoner stays silent, then you will get off
with nothing, and the other prisoner will get 10 years; exactly the opposite will happen
if the other prisoner turns State’s evidence, and you stay silent. If you both confess, you
both get 5 years. Is it rational to confess or to silent?
B. What is Hedonism?
Hedonism – the view that the only thing that is of the value itself is happiness (or
pleasure, though for simplicity we will talk only of happiness for now), and the only
thing bad is unhappiness (or pain)

a. Differentiate happiness from pleasure

Pleasure is a momentary feeling that comes from something external like a good meal,
making love and so on. It has to do with the positive experiences of our senses, and
with good things happening. It can give us momentary feeling happiness, but this
happiness does not last long because it is dependent upon external event and
experiences. On the other hand, happiness is the result of choosing to be kind, caring,
compassionate and gentle person with himself and others – quite the opposite of the
judgmental, controlling person. It is a natural result of being present in each moment,
rather than with being attached to the outcome of things and trying to control the
outcome regarding events and others’ behavior.
b. Two types of values
Instrumentally valuable – its values things instrumentally, that is, to some end.
Instrumental values as those which are specific modes of behavior. They are not an end
goal but provides a means by which an end goal is accomplished. For examples, you
value a washing machine that work purely for its useful function. But if there is a cheap
cleaning service next door that picked up and dropped off your laundry, you might use
it and sell your washing machine because it no longer has any instrumental value to
you.
 Intrinsically valuable – it is valuable in itself; by someone for its own sake. Of all the
good things in life, only happiness, it seems, is prized for its own sake. Most people
value not only their own happiness, they also value the happiness of other people. They
are sometimes willing to sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of someone else’s.
c. Give an example where hedonism is applied.
Hedonism is applied when you satisfy your pleasure. For examples, if you’ve eaten too
much candy or anything sweets at one time, you know how it works. You may enjoy
the food at the time, but soon after you get a terrible stomachache, and in the long run,
your teeth will rot always. This is an example of hedonism which deals with your
pleasure, a temporary form of happiness.