UNIT 1

The Ethical Dimension

of Human Existence
 Lesson 4
Senses of the Self
At the end of this lesson, you are
expected to:
• Recognize the problem with taking
subjectivist stance towards ethics
• Recognize the irrefutability but also the
usefulness of the descriptive ethical
theory called psychological egoism
• Assess the challenge to ethics raised bu
ethical egoism
Understanding of SELF
vs
ETHICS
Three Theories about ETHICS
1. Subjectivism
2. Psychological Egoism
3. Ethical Egoism
Subjectivism

“No one can tell me what is right and wrong.”

“No one knows my situation better than myself.”
“I am entitled to my own opinion.”
“It is good if I say that it is good.”
Subjectivism
• The point of subjectivism is the recognition
that the individual person (the subject) is at
the heart of all moral valuations.
• She is the one who is confronted with the
situation and is burdened with the need to
make decision or judgment.
• Leaps to the more radical claim that the
individual is the sole determinant of what
is morally good or bad. vid
Subjectivism

“No one can tell me what is right or wrong”

• No one can compel another to accept a certain
statement or value judgment is she herself does
not agree with it.
• We realize that we can be mistaken and that we
can be corrected by others.
Subjectivism

“No one knows my situation better than myself”

• This particular person who is put in a certain
situation, which calls for a decision, is the one
who has the best knowledge of the factors that
surround her situation.
Subjectivism

“I am entitled to my own opinion.”

• A valid point that us often misused.
• Each person has the right to believe what she
believes and has the right to express this.
• To insist on one’s right in to having opinions is
to exhibit a closed-mindedness.
Subjectivism

“It is good if I say it is good.”

• With this line, we get to the heart of the problem
with subjectivism.
• This statement implies that “it is my personal
consideration of X as good that makes X good.”
Psychological Egoism

“Human beings are naturally self-centered, so

all our actions are always already motivated by
self-interest.”
Psychological Egoism
• A theory that describes the underlying dynamic
behind all human actions as a matter of a
pursuit of self-interest.
• It does not direct one to act in any particular
way, instead it points out that there is already a
basis for how one acts.
• The ego/self has its desires and interests, and
all our actions are geared toward satisfying
these interests.
Psychological Egoism

• This theory is less problematic since we do

things in pursuit of our own self-interest.
• But what about the other types of behavior that
we would commonly say are directed toward the
other, like generosity? A psychological egoist
would believe that this behavior is a self-serving
desire.
Psychological Egoism
• This is a convincing theory because there is no
way to try to answer it without confronted by
the challenge that there is the self-serving
motive at the root of everything.
“A woman spends her money on expensive
clothes and shoes for herself, and another
woman donates to charity.”
Psychological Egoism
“How are we supposed to decide on the right
thing to do?”
-it does not matter. We only think that we have a
choice but actually, in whatever way we end up
acting, our minds have determined what serves
our interests best, maybe without our being
conscious of it.
Ethical Egoism
• This theory differs from psychological egoism in
that it does not suppose that all our actions are
already inevitably self-serving.
• Instead, ethical egoism prescribes that we
should make our own ends, our own interests,
as our single overriding concern.
• We may act in a way that is beneficial to others,
but we should do that only if it ultimately
benefits us.
Ethical Egoism
• This theory acknowledges that it is a dog-eat-
dog world out there and given that, everyone
ought to put his/her own self at the center.
• Once should consider the self as the priority and
not allow any other concerns, such as the
welfare of other people, to deviate or detract
from this pursuit.
Ethical Egoism

“Why should I have any concern about the

interests of others?”

“Why not just look after one’s own self?”

Activity

Search for the story of Rings of Gyges. Explain

how the story becomes a warning on the
possibilities of ETHICAL EGOISM.