Ethical egoism is the view that people should in fact act according to their self interest. Ethical egoists argue that people do not often pursue their self interest, but that they should in fact do so. Acting in self interest means that we should do what maximises our happiness and minimises our unhappiness. This is a form of hedonism (derived from the Greek word “hedon” which means happiness or pleasure). Hedonism is a doctrine which proposes that one should maximise one’s happiness and minimise one’s unhappiness.
Not all ethical egoists are hedonists. There are many desirable goals than happiness such as contentment, knowledge, power, love or freedom. In order to bring in all such goals which people pursue into discussion, the general term ‘utility’ is used. Utility can be defined as whatever makes the consequence of any action desirable; disutility is whatever makes the consequence of an action undesirable. Ethical egoism can be restated as the view that one should so act as to maximise his utility and minimise his disutility.
This view obviously goes against the normal trend of common thinking. If everyone adopts ethical egoism, it will result in universalisation of selfishness and self centredness. Many writers moderate the statement of ethical egoism to answer this criticism. Even while pursuing selfish ends, people have to ensure that they can pursue such ends over the long term. If people are too brazen or aggressive in pursuing their selfish ends to the extent of riding roughshod over others, they will meet with resistance, people will be wary of them and will avoid them. Then they cannot pursue their ends. Therefore, even while pursuing selfish ends, one has to be prudent and ensure that they do not lead to backlash from others.
In this way, ethical egoism leads to conduct which is morally acceptable. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), a famous political thinker, believed that men are essentially driven by very selfish, ruthless and aggressive tendencies. As a result, highly anarchic, violent and disorderly conditions prevailed in the ‘state of nature’ which is a stage of human existence before organised societies came into being. Hobbes describes human life in the state of nature as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”. People would have realised that this state of affairs can be ended only by changing their selfish behaviour and by joining in a society which prescribes rules and laws in order to ensure that men control their aggressive selfish drives to factor in the concerns of others.
We may also mention Mandeville and Adam Smith in this context. Mandeville put forth the view that self interest is the sole criterion of rightness. Self preservation is the first law of existence. Even while working for the good of others, men have self interest in view. Paradoxical though it may seem, individuals in pursuing their self interest also promote the society’s general interest. Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations extendsthisdoctrinetothecompetitivemarketsystem. Inthissystem, the consumers seek to maximise their satisfactions by purchasing the commodities they want. The producers wish to maximise their profits by meeting the demands of consumers. The self regarding actions of the myriad buyers and sellers are harmonised by an ‘invisible hand’ leading to maximum production and welfare.
Even after modifying ethical egoism into a form of enlightened (as opposed to crude) self interest, it has certain weaknesses. First, it leads to a conclusion that people can act selfishly or immorally when they are not being observed or when their actions cannot be detected. If X detects a purse that someone has dropped and if others are around, he will pick it up and return it to the owner. If nobody is around, he may be tempted to pocket it. Anyone adopting ethical egoism may not adopt moral principles as binding under all circumstances.
Another unacceptable feature of ethical egoism is that it may lead to ignoring the interests of future generations. For example, it is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to guard against climate change. The change will occur in the long term. Ethical egoism will imply that (since future generations are not around), there is no need to worry about them.
There is another problem with ethical egoism that one cannot publicly espouse it. We cannot make it known that we are ethical egoists, i.e. given anonymity we will quietly pursue our personal interests and ignore others. If everyone follows this course, then nobody can gain any advantage.