GE 107

Ethics

Regie Dajay Marites Demaisip

“The Ethical Dimension and Human Existence”

Objectives:
 Identify the ethical aspect of human life and the scope of ethical thinking;
 Define and explain the terms that are relevant to ethical thinking; and
 Evaluate the difficulties that are involved in maintaining certain commonly held notions
on ethics.

ETHICAL EGOISM

Ethical egoism differs from psychological egoism in that it does not suppose all our actions
are already inevitably self-serving. Instead, ethical egoism prescribes that we should make our own
ends, our own interest, as the single overriding concern. We may act in a way that is beneficial,
but we should do that only if it ultimately benefits us. This theory acknowledges that it is a dog-
eat-dog world out there and given that, everyone ought to put herself at the center. One should
consider herself as the priority and not allow any other concerns, such as the welfare of other
people, to detract from this pursuit

It is clear that we have our interest and desires, and would want them satisfied. Thus, this
question can be asked: why should I have any concern about the interest of others? In a sense, this
questions challengers in fundamental way of idea of not just a study of ethics, but also the effort
of being ethical: why not just look after one’s own self? To examine ethical egoism, we will take
a look into Plato’s republic, which is Plato’s response to the assertion that one’s should only care
about one’s own interests.

In the republic, the characters are engaged in a discussion about justice. Socrates get to his
companions to first consider the question “what is justice?” and later, why should one be just? In
a book 2 of the text the character named Glaucon provides a powerful restatement of the case for
egoism by way of the myth. The myth describes a man, a figure named Gyges, who obtains the
power to make himself invisible at will and how he quickly learns how to use this power for his
own desires rather than for any notion of “justice”. Glaucon then asks plaintively, why would not
we ourselves act with impunity if we had this power to be invisible? To put it simply, if we would
never be called in order to account for our actions, perhaps we, too, would just choose to do
whatever we want. It seems, Glaucon concludes, that if we are to be honest with ourselves, we
would admit that what we really care for is our own self-interest rather than some notion of justice
or moral goodness.

It will take Socrates the rest of the ten books of the republic to try to answer this most
important questions on whether the pursuit of ethics is worthwhile. Does It make sense or be
ethical? The beginning of Socrates’s answer can be found in book 4, in which Socrates presents
how the good human life stems from a proper harmony of the parts of the soul. Harmony requires
a certain ordering, a hierarchical system in which reason as the “highest” part is in charge dutifully
to followed by the “lower” parts of the soul of will and appetite. The presence of such an internal
ordering that one consciously strives to accomplish is what it means for justice to be present in the
individual. On the other hand, the absence of order or the lack of harmony, with desires and
appetites running rampant, results in acts of injustice. This point is developed in book 9 with the
portrayal of the tyrant. The presence of internal disorder in a person place in power turns to
seemingly pleasant prospect of doing whatever one wants- of acting with impunity- into a
terrifying portrait of a character without self-control or self-possession. Being nothing more than
a disordered and nervous humble of cravings, such a person would be so obsessed with these
longing than to bother caring about how this might affect others. Situating this story into a larger
social and political context, the connection can be made between one’s pursuit of own interest with
abuse of power that may easily result in the misery of millions. The questions then that we can ask
is: Do we still want to say, in the face of what history has shown us of tyrant and dictators, that to
act with impunity is desirable

This is what ethical egoism ultimately translates into- not just some pleasant pursuit of
one’s own desires, but the imposition of a will to power that is potentially destructive of the both
self and of others. One can take on this view, if one wishes, but it is also possible to wonder whether
there is a way of recognizing our being in the world with others. Of thinking of our own well-being
concomitantly with the well-being of others. Perhaps this is what the study of ethics is all about.