Psychological Egoism: Fact or Fiction??
The descriptive claim made by Psychological Egoists is that humans, by nature, are motivated only by self-interest. Any act, no matter how altruistic it may seem on the outside is actually only a disguise for a selfish desire such as recognition, avoiding guilt, reward or sense of personal ‘goodness’ or morality. For example, Mother Teresa is just using the poor for her own long-term spiritual gain. Being a universal claim, it could falter with a single counterexample. And being that I believe this claim to be bunk I will tell you why!
If I help a friend out of trouble, there is a chance that I would feel happy afterwards. But was that happiness the motive for my actions or just the result? I didn’t save my friend in order to feel good; rather, I feel good because I helped my friend. Psychological egoism doesn’t have an empirical or scientific leg to stand on. Furthermore, how can one know with any certainty that they are acting in their......
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