Psychological and Ethical Egoism, Free Essay for Everyone

Psychological egoism is a way of describing the way different individuals behave. In this case, all the people act as per their desires as well as are selfish. The theory above indicates that individuals offer considerable significance to self-interest instead of other people's interests. In particular, this is because the reason behind an act of human beings is based on their self-interest. Therefore, it is clear that the preceding theory demonstrates a perspective that each is focused on his or her best interest as well as own benefit (Machan 1). Psychological egoism indicates that an individual cannot perform two acts, namely acts that are believed to be contrary to one's best interests as well as acts that one has no beliefs in.

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Conversely, ethical egoism demonstrates a person's moral judgments that are grounded in his or her self-interest. In most cases, individuals are accepted to be selfish to satisfy their interests. Specifically, the theory mentioned above is regarded as a perspective that an individual's duty is to encourage his or her best interest. Precisely, psychological egoism demonstrates the way individuals behave while ethical egoism depicts the way human beings ought to behave.

Psychological egoism is regarded as a descriptive theory, which results from observations from people's character. Therefore, the theory above is considered true when no exceptions are made. In particular, this can be substantiated from a science view where people need to comprehend that a purported law requires a single disconfirming example to disprove it. Notably, the preceding theory does not claim as to the way an individual should behave. In this instance, all people need to seek their self-interest in the theory, and this is considered a purported fact that is perceived as nonmoral as well as verifiable. In this case, psychological egoism is a perspective that plays a vital role in describing what people are motivated by. Specifically, it states that the actions taken by different individuals are not to fulfill a person's desires as well as to fulfill their interests (Machan 3). However, the theory above does not state that people's actions are right or wrong but explains the reason why individuals are motivated to act in specific ways.

On the other hand, ethical egoism is recognized as a prescriptive or normative rule where every person is required to seek individual interest. It is important to understand that the concept in this theory is that a person's welfare is the only thing that is valuable for the person. Moreover, ethical egoism does not have a claim that all human beings seek their self-interest. However, it claims that people ought to or even should seek their self-interest in spite of the fact that not all of them might do so.

It is important to comprehend that psychological egoism plays a vital role in lending support to ethical egoism. In particular, psychological egoism is indicated the truth found in ethical egoism that is followed from two premises. The first premise asserts the truth of psychological egoism, and the other premise states the precept that ought to imply can. Therefore, an individual can observe that the available argument whether the two theories relate has substantial intuitive appeal (Machan 2). In particular, the first presented premise shows that it is difficult for an individual to perform anything; however, seeks his or her own good. On the same note, the second premise demonstrates that people are never needed to perform the impossible. Therefore, it seems that individuals can infer the truth of ethical egoism from the two premises mentioned above.

Scholars maintain that psychological egoism is a human nature where no individual can do an act unless he or she believes that it is in his best interests. Therefore, in case ethical egoism is regarded to be the perspective that an act is obligatory when it is the person's best interest, then an individual is responsible for doing an act that he does not believe is in his personal interests. With that said, it is clear that both ethical and psychological egoism is a pragmatic stance. The reason is that they both utilize argument from effect to justify the means to an end. Specifically, ethics, as well as morality, are perceived as secondary and subjective to the precepts of people's self-interest. It is evident that both theories indicate what is best for the individuals around them as opposed to letting a free market decide.

It is noteworthy that ethical egoism is recognized as a normative theory that plays a vital role in promoting an individual's good in accordance with morality. In particular, the theory demonstrates that it is moral to encourage an individual's self-interest as well as never moral not to encourage it (Machan 3). Nevertheless, it is moral to encourage a person's self-interest, it is not necessarily never moral not. Notably, there might be situations where the avoidance of individual interest might be a moral action.

The subjective theory of value is defined as a value theory that plays a vital role in advancing the concept that the value of a product is not identified by any inherent property of the product or by the quantity of labor necessary to produce the product. However, the aforementioned value is identified by the significance an acting person places on a good for the attainment of one's desired ends. In particular, the aforementioned theory of value indicates that voluntary trades existing between people show that both parties to the trade subjectively perceive money, goods, or even labor received as of high value to the money, products, or even labor they give away. Specifically, the theory depicts that an individual is in a position to develop value by transferring ownership of something to a person who values it more.

To begin with, ethical egoism is defined as a normative approach as opposed to descriptive ethics. Specifically, the theory demonstrates that an individual's promotion of self-interest is in accordance with morality. Act ethical egoism differs from rule ethical egoism in that the former indicates that people need to consider the results of every personal act. On the other hand, the latter depicts that people should adhere to available basic rules that heighten one's self-interest.

One can argue that psychological egoism provides considerable support for ethical egoism. Psychological egoism takes part in lending support to ethical egoism. Specifically, the aforementioned theory indicates the truth found in ethical egoism that is followed from two premises. In particular, the first premise maintains the truth of psychological egoism, as well as the other premise, states the precept that ought to imply can. Therefore, a person can observe that the available argument whether the two theories relate has substantial intuitive appeal (Machan 2). n fact, tThe first presented premise shows that it is difficult for an individual to perform anything; however, seeks his or her own good. Additionally, the second premise demonstrates that people are never needed to perform the impossible. In simple terms, this shows that psychological egoism plays a critical part in supporting ethical egoism.

On the other hand, one can argue that psychological egoism does not support ethical egoism. The reason is that psychological egoism is regarded as a descriptive theory, which results from observations from people's character. Therefore, the aforementioned theory is considered true when no exceptions are made. Conversely, ethical egoism is recognized as a prescriptive or normative rule where every person is required to seek individual interest. Therefore, the concept in this theory is that a person's welfare is the only thing that is valuable for the person.

Overall, psychological egoism is a way of describing the way different individuals behave. In this case, all the people act as per their desires as well as are selfish. The preceding theory demonstrates a perspective that each individual is focused on his or her best interest as well as own benefit. Similarly, ethical egoism demonstrates a person's moral judgments that are grounded in his or her self-interest. The theory mentioned above is regarded as a perspective that an individual's duty is to encourage his or her best interest. In simple terms, it is noteworthy that psychological egoism is a human nature where no individual can do an act unless he or she believes that it is in his best interests. On the other hand, ethical egoism is recognized as a normative theory that plays a vital role in promoting an individual's good in accordance with morality.

Work Cited

Machan, Tibor R. "Egoism, Psychological Egoism, and Ethical Egoism." Wiley Encyclopedia of Management (2015): 1-4.