Psychological egoism

:For other uses, see Egoism (disambiguation).

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Psychological egoism is the view that we are always motivated by self-interest, even in seeming acts of altruism. It can be contrasted both with altruism and with ethical egoism, which is the view that we always ought to be motivated by self-interest and disregard the interests of the community. It is controversial, since many see it as an over simplified interpretation of behavior.

Related Topics:
Self-interest - Altruism - Ethical egoism - Community

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Among philosophers, Max Stirner is best known for holding a view called psychological egoism.

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Critics of this theory often reject it on the grounds that it is non-falsifiable; in other words, it is designed in such a way as to be impossible to prove or disprove, because psychological egoists claim that apparent acts of altruism are simply the acts of individuals seeking a "warm fuzzy glow" or following social incentives to be seen to be altruistic. Since this "warm fuzzy glow" is impossible to detect, let alone measure, it is impossible to prove that all people experience it every time they perform altruistic acts.

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But even accepting the theory of the universal "warm fuzzy glow", it is very difficult to explain, for example, the actions of a soldier who sacrifices his life by jumping on a grenade in order to save his comrades. In this case, there is simply no time to experience a "warm fuzzy glow" or any other reward for one's actions.

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Finally, psychological egoism has also been accused of using circular logic: "If a person willingly performs an act, that means he derives personal enjoyment from it; therefore, people only perform acts that give them personal enjoyment". This statement is circular because its conclusion is identical to its hypothesis (it assumes that people only perform acts that give them personal enjoyment, and concludes that people only perform acts that give them personal enjoyment).

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