final+Ethics+Theories.docx - Ethics Theories Egoism...

Ethics Theories
Egoism 利己主义
Feinberg (1958) egoism is a selfish behavior to pursuit some one’s own interests at the
expense of others.
把追求个人利益建立在牺牲别人的基础上。
 Pursuit of one’s own interest.
 Egoism is the theory that one’s self is, or should be, the motivation and the goal of
one’s own action.
 Egoism has two variants descriptive and prescriptively.
o Descriptive egoism claims that we always act in the pursuit of self-interest.
o Ethical Egoism is the claim that we should always pursue our own self-
interest.
 Distinguishing Egoism:
1- Behavioural egoism vs psychological egoism vs philosophical egoism
 Behavioural Egoism- We act in pursuit of our self interest
 Psychological Egoism- We are motivated by our self interest
 Philosophical Egoism- As our motivation issue from ourselves and not
from others , they are by necessarily self-interested/ self-regarding –
They are our motivation.
2- Primary motivations vs Instrumental motivation
 Primary motivation- Our Final Purpose (Pleasure,
Happiness/Wellbeing)
 Instrumental Motivation- The drive to pursue those things that will
bring us pleasure.
 Supporting Ethical Egoism:
o Limited obligations : We can’t be expected to act altruistically all the time, or
constantly prioritise the interests of others over our own.
o Efficiency: We know our own interests better than others do, and they know
theirs better than we do. So, it will be more efficient if we each see to our own.
 Objecting Ethical Egoism:
o It cannot adjudicate conflict and as yet markets are not perfect.
o Morality is generally seen as a restraint on self-interest – Hence egoism
oxymoronic.
o The paradox of egoism- Those who constantly pursue their own desires are
less happy .
o Egoism is incompatible with many human activities. Such as giving advice or
being an agent.

Utilitarianism 功利主义
Bentham (1822) utilitarianism does not take into account the motives and ways of an
individual, and only considers the effect of the action on the maximum of happiness.
功利主义不考虑一个人行为的动机和手段，仅考虑一个行为的结果对最大快乐值的影
响。
If you do something that maximises your own happiness , makes other happy, and leaves
precious few people miserable , that action is justifiable.
 Ethical theory that uses a cost-benefit approach .
 A theory that the aim of action should be the largest possible balance of
pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
If the action brings more total happiness than unhappiness for more people, it
is justified.
 Problem with Utilitarianism:
o Distribution Problem - The phrase greatest good for the greatest number of
people is too ambiguous.