Question

What is the central principle of ethical egoism? What are two major problems concerning ethical egoism?

Answer 1

1. The central principle of ethical egoism is the fact that; no-one has any obligation to promote anyone else’s interests and thus each of us ought to pursue our own self-interest.

The two major problems concerning ethical egoism are the fact it offers no

solutions when a problem arises involving conflicts of interest. For example, if a company wants to dump its waste into a river and the people living downstream are objecting. Both parties actively pursue their interests because of ethical egoism leading to no solution.

2. Ethical egoism goes against the principle of impartiality as only self-interest is promoted as people do not even try to be impartial leading to discrimination.