[Bups-dis] Ethical Egoism

[Ashley Blattner]

Dear Philosophers,

It was a dreary Friday morning in an equally dreary seminar and I found
myself trailing off when someone mentioned Ethical Egoism. I shall assume
that everyone knows what Ethical Egoism is, however on the off-chance that
you haven't heard of the term before here is the wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_egoism (the neutrality of the article
is questionable however the main points are there).

After much musing, I brought myself to the conclusion that Ethical Egoism is
inherent in our daily lives and none can deny that they are in some way
Ethically Egotistical. If this conclusion proves to be true, then this means
that there can be no true altruists among human beings. I came to this
conclusion by thinking along the following lines:

Within the "state of nature" (as introduced by Hobbes), everyone looks out
for themselves. The state of nature is human kind taken from first
principles, without a developed society or any nations. This self
preservation extends from the state of nature, to when an individual enters
the "social contract" (as discussed by both Hobbes and Locke). This social
contract is where an individual, upon entering society, forfeits certain
rights and privileges in order to secure their own safety and wellbeing.

The same can be extracted to an individuals ethical standing in our society.
The way I see human beings deciding on adequate solutions to ethical
problems, it is within our nature to choose the direction that if not best
suits ourselves, then still factors in our own consequences. Although
everyone has traces of egotistical tendencies, these traces are never the
same, everyone's perspective and character is different. However, even
seemingly altruistic actions such as donating money to charity can be
tainted; as people seek gratification from others for doing something that
is classified as "good". Another common feature is people seeking
self-gratification, for example; people that go to Africa to help with the
Red Cross, many do this to prove to themselves that they are able to do good
in a world that has much evil. I also doubt many have not thought about
getting recognition for their good work.

One factor that I haven't thought about in great detail is the way in which
religion ties into this claim that there cannot be any "true altruistic"
actions. For instance as many believe Jesus walked among us, did he not have
any truly altruistic actions? My main weakness in this is that I do not have
nearly enough knowledge on this topic to begin debating with myself so I
will have to ask for help from people who know what they're talking about in
here.

So my main 2 questions I put to my fellow philosophers are these:

   1. What are your opinions on this claim I have made? If you deem it
   wrong, what would perhaps be a better solution in your eyes?
   2. If hypothetically, this claim was to be proven true, what would be
   the religious implications of this?

Best Regards,

Ashley