With all due respect : Psychological Egoism

Here is my argument in the case of Psychological Egoism. Please leave a comment or a reply video, I'd love to hear your view. (also 1st time speaking to a camera so be nice. loll)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• philosophy
• mind
• psychology
• egoism
• psychological egoism
• selflessness
• selfish
• self
• altruism
• compassion
• Control

[socrates123456789101]

Emil, I understand. However, If you believe it is us who decides then it sounds like you believe in free will, not determinism. A person then is free to be altruistic or selfish. As for your mother/child example, it depends on how you define selfish. The problem with P Egoism is that it is the position that everyone is exclusively selfish... the key word is exclusive. See Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

[Emil246]

@socrates123456789101 what drives us may be hardwired however it is us who ultimately decide whether or not to follow those impulses. Altruism is not a common trait in children and mothers. for a example a child may be seen as self centered and a mother cares more about her child than other people's children

[socrates123456789101]

@Emil246 Emil, I think you are confusing the freedom/determinism debate with the egoism/altruism debate. Even evol biologists recognize the existence of altruism. Anyway, the fact that everyone may pursue sastisfaction does not imply everyone is selfish. After all, I may get satisfaction in harming others for my interests and you may get it by not doing such things. It's not seeking satisfaction but what we find to be satisfyiing that makes one selfish or not.

[Emil246]

our brain is the one that makes the moral decisions in fast pace reactions. since we are motivated to pursue satisfaction from what the dna perceives as desires i think that psychological egoism still stands.

[philosophywpaul]

Nice vid. You've thought a lot about it. I agree that PE is fully of ambiguities and seems to confuse consequence with motivation.