¶ … Ethical egoism unsatisfactory moral theory; important corrective ethics -sacrifice. Briefly relate ethical egoism, defended Ayn Rand, ethics -sacrifice, presented Carol Gilligan's stage moral development.
Philosophy commentary
1st thread
Conventional morality tends to prioritize self-sacrifice as the ideal, particularly for females. However, the valorization of self-sacrifice can be taken too far -- Gilligan's theory of gender-based moral development seems to suggest that it is 'natural' for girls to prioritize harmony over objective ethical systems, even over their own welfare or personal sense of morality. For women to feel as though they have the right to pursue an education, to be competitive, and to have equal rights in the workplace and at home they must believe they have a certain intrinsic moral right to realize their personal goals. Too much self-sacrifice can result in codependency or supporting other people to the point that others take advantage of the person who is giving everything in an uncritical fashion. Thus emphasizing self-sacrifice too much can result in a loss of the meaningful creative contributions of women who instead expend their energies as helpers rather than seeking to shine in their own right. Also, if someone is utterly egoless, they may put aside other, higher ethical principles simply to please other people.
2nd thread
Kohlberg's moral development stages reflect to some degree the philosophy of ethical subjectivism in the sense that they acknowledge that age can affect one's moral perceptions and the developmental perspective of the individual can make it difficult to place higher principles above lower, simplistic ones. However, by ranking moral decisions on a hierarchy and placing ethical decision-making at the pinnacle, Kohlberg is ultimately making a very strong statement about how objective ethical principles in the 'post-conventional stage' are the highest form of moral development (a statement which would not necessarily be embraced by all cultures, particularly collectivist ones). In contrast to post-conventional thinkers like Martin Luther King Jr. who place ideals above their own welfare and the conventional laws of the land, some people (including those persons who facilitated atrocities like Eichmann and the Milgram subjects) uncritically follow orders and simplistically associate morality with adhering to rules in the conventional modality of thought; the Kitty Genovese bystanders even put their egotistic desire not to be involved above any moral obligation to others at all.
Ethical Egoism & Abortion Ethical egoism, as a philosophical position, holds that it is an ethical obligation for people to act in their own self-interest. How does this philosophical position deal with the debate over the morality of abortion? It is necessary, before beginning a closer analysis, to define our terms. Abortion is a hotly contested issue, but our sense of ethics here needs to be understood first as distinct from
Most philosophers, however, reject egoism or ethical egoism as it violates the foundations of an ethical system. Two persons to both maximize their respective self-interests will lead to conflict. Moreover, egoism inclines towards the exploitation of the weak. When a person is caught performing an illegal act or an act violating a professional code of ethics, it is almost always because of egoistic behavior that he committed it (Cengage). Gun
Others argue against Ethical Egoism. The work of Pecorino states as an argument against Ethical Egoism the facts as follows: Ethical Egoism "provides no moral basis for solving conflicts between people; (2) Ethical Egoism "obligates each person to prevent others from doing the right thing; (3) Has the same logical basis as racism"; (4) "The egoist cannot advise others to be egoists because it works against the first egoists
83). Let us go through these arguments. The first argument does not suggest that a person involved in business should disregard any ethical obligations. One can economically survive in business without violating the norms of morality. Moreover, as Beverluis argues, "we are in a real sense 'doing' business ethics. For what is a 'right'? If one puts forward the claim to have certain moral rights (as opposed to legal rights),
Ethics and Morality In basic terms, ethical egoism can be regarded as an ethical position (normative) in which case an agent ought to undertake a course of action that maximizes his or her own self-interest. Thus in this case, the primary duty of the agent is to promote his or her own interests. In this text, I concern myself with ethical egoism. In so doing, I develop several arguments in favor
Ethics and Nursing One of the nurses you work with is an ethical egoist, should you report him to your nurses' supervisor? Why or why not? This person should not be reported because the definition of what is meant by good has not been given. For example, Socrates could be considered an ethical egoist because he held the position that persons of intelligence always act in their own self-interest, i.e., for their
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