Egoism

The term egoism is derived from the French égoïsme, from the Latin ego (first person singular personal pronoun; "I") with the French -ïsme ("-ism").Ego comes from the Greek word εγώ which means “me” or “myself”

The descriptive variants of egoism are concerned with self-regard as a factual description of human motivation and, in its furthest application, that all human motivation stems from the desires and interest of the ego.[1][2] In these theories, action which is self-regarding may be simply termed egoistic.[5]

The position that people tend to act in their own self-interest is called default egoism,[6] whereas psychological egoism is the position that all motivations are rooted in an ultimately self-serving psyche. That is, in its strong form, that even seemingly altruistic actions are only disguised as such and are always self-serving. Its weaker form instead holds that, even if altruistic motivation is possible, the willed action necessarily becomes egoistic in serving one's own will.[2] In contrast to this and philosophical egoism, biological egoism (also called evolutionary egoism) describes motivations rooted solely in reproductive self-interest (i.e. reproductive fitness).[7][8] Furthermore, selfish gene theory holds that it is the self-interest of genetic information that conditions human behaviour.[9]

Theories which hold egoism to be normative stipulate that the ego ought to promote its own interests above other values. Where this ought is held to be a pragmatic judgment it is termed rational egoism and where it is held to be a moral judgment it is termed ethical egoism.[1] The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states that "ethical egoism might also apply to things other than acts, such as rules or character traits" but that such variants are uncommon.[2] Furthermore, conditional egoism is a consequentialist form of ethical egoism which holds that egoism is morally right if it leads to morally acceptable ends.[1] John F. Welsh, in his work Max Stirner's Dialectical Egoism: A New Interpretation, coins the term dialectical egoism to describe an interpretation of the egoist philosophy of Max Stirner as being fundamentally dialectical.[13]

Normative egoism, as in the case of Stirner, need not reject that some modes of behavior are to be valued above others—such as Stirner's affirmation that non-restriction and autonomy are to be most highly valued.[14] Contrary theories, however, may just as easily favour egoistic domination of others.[15]

In 1851, French philosopher Auguste Comte coined the term altruism (French: altruisme; from Italian altrui, from Latin alteri 'others') as an antonym for egoism.[16][17] In this sense, altruism defined Comte's position that all self-regard must be replaced with only the regard for others.[16]

While Friedrich Nietzsche does not view altruism as a suitable antonym for egoism,[18] Comte instead states that only two human motivations exist, egoistic and altruistic, and that the two cannot be mediated; that is, one must always predominate the other. For Comte, the total subordination of the self to altruism is a necessary condition to both social and personal benefit.[16] Nietzsche, rather than rejecting the practice of altruism, warns that despite there being neither much altruism nor equality in the world, there is almost universal endorsement of their value and, notoriously, even by those who are its worst enemies in practice.[11] Egoist philosophy commonly views the subordination of the self to altruism as either a form of domination that limits freedom, an unethical or irrational principle, or an extension of some egoistic root cause.[1]

In evolutionary theory, biological altruism is the observed occurrence of an organism acting to the benefit of others at the cost of its own reproductive fitness. While biological egoism does grant that an organism may act to the benefit of others, it describes only such when in accordance with reproductive self-interest. Kin altruism and selfish gene theory are examples of this division.[8][9] On biological altruism, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states: "Contrary to what is often thought, an evolutionary approach to human behaviour does not imply that humans are likely to be motivated by self-interest alone. One strategy by which ‘selfish genes’ may increase their future representation is by causing humans to be non-selfish, in the psychological sense."[9] This is a central topic within contemporary discourse of psychological egoism.[2]

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The history of egoist thought has often overlapped with that of nihilism. For example, Max Stirner's rejection of absolutes and abstract concepts often places him among the first philosophical nihilists.[19] The popular description of Stirner as a moral nihilist, however, may fail to encapsulate certain subtleties of his ethical thought. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states, "Stirner is clearly committed to the non-nihilistic view that certain kinds of character and modes of behaviour (namely autonomous individuals and actions) are to be valued above all others. His conception of morality is, in this respect, a narrow one, and his rejection of the legitimacy of moral claims is not to be confused with a denial of the propriety of all normative or ethical judgement."[14] Stirner's nihilism may instead be understood as cosmic nihilism.[20] Likewise, both normative and descriptive theories of egoism further developed under Russian nihilism, shortly giving birth to rational egoism. Nihilist philosophers Dmitry Pisarev and Nikolay Chernyshevsky were influential in this regard, compounding such forms of egoism with hard determinism.[3][21][22]

Since normative egoism rejects the moral obligation to subordinate the ego to a ruling class, it is predisposed to certain political implications. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy states:

Egoists ironically can be read as moral and political egalitarians glorifying the dignity of each and every person to pursue life as they see fit. Mistakes in securing the proper means and appropriate ends will be made by individuals, but if they are morally responsible for their actions they not only will bear the consequences but also the opportunity for adapting and learning.[1]

In contrast with this however, such an ethic may not morally obligate against the egoistic exercise of power over others. On these grounds, Friedrich Nietzsche criticizes egalitarian morality and political projects as unconducive to the development of human excellence.[11] Max Stirner's own conception, the union of egoists as detailed in his work The Ego and Its Own, saw a proposed form of societal relations whereby limitations on egoistic action are rejected.[25] When posthumously adopted by the anarchist movement, this became the foundation for egoist anarchism.

Stirner's variant of property theory is similarly dialectical, where the concept of ownership is only that personal distinction made between what is one's property and what is not. Consequentially, it is the exercise of control over property which constitutes the nonabstract possession of it.[25] In contrast to this, Ayn Rand incorporates capitalist property rights into her egoist theory.[26]

• Jeremy Bentham,[30] who is attributed as an early proponent of psychological egoism
• Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevskii,[22] a Russian literary critic and philosopher of nihilism and rational egoism
• Alister Crowley,[31] who popularized the expression "Do what thou wilt"
• Arthur Desmond as Ragnar Redbeard
• Thomas Hobbes,[30] who is attributed as an early proponent of psychological egoism
• John Henry Mackay, a British-German egoist anarchist
• Bernard de Mandeville,[32] whose materialism has been retroactively described as form of egoism
• Friedrich Nietzsche,[33] whose concept of will to power has both descriptive and prescriptive interpretations[11]
• Dmitry Ivanovich Pisarev,[21] a Russian literary critic and philosopher of nihilism and rational egoism
• Ayn Rand,[33] who supported an egoistic model of capitalist self-incentive and selfishness[26]
• Max Stirner, whose views were described by John F. Welsh as "dialectical egoism"[34]
• Benjamin Tucker, an American egoist anarchist
• James L. Walker, who independently formulated an egoist philosophy before himself discovering the work of Stirner[35]

Look up egoism, egoist, or egoistic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Altruism, the selfless concern for the welfare of others
• Enlightened self-interest, a philosophy in ethics which states that persons who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to which they belong), ultimately serve their own self-interest.
• Homo economicus, portrayal of humans as agents who are consistently rational, narrowly self-interested, and who pursue their subjectively-defined ends optimally.
• Individualism, a focus on the individual as opposed to society
• Individualist anarchism, anarchism that exalts the supremacy of the individual
• Machiavellianism (psychology), a tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain
• Selfishness, denoting the precedence given in thought or deed to the self, i.e., self-interest or self-concern
• Selfism, a pejorative term referring to any philosophy, doctrine, or tendency that upholds explicitly selfish principles as being desirable
• Suitheism, the belief in self as a deity