An egoist African-American may oppose affirmative action for other self-centered reasons too. For example, the individual might not want to be accused of being hired on the basis of her minority status alone; their social life may benefit more from a less desirable job. In another scenario, a white man who was married to an African-American woman might support affirmative action even though it would ruin his chances for a promotion for the sole reason that his personal life would suffer otherwise. Thus, the egoists' decisions are usually situational and highly personal. What benefits one individual may not benefit another.
Affirmative action programs are egoist from the point-of-view of those they benefit. To some white males, especially egoists whose jobs are directly affected by such programs, affirmative action equals "reverse discrimination." However, egoist minorities who have been previously excluded from positions of power and who would benefit directly would support…...
Egoism and Moral Skepticism
James Rachels's paper "Egoism and Moral Skepticism" begins by noting that he can trace his subject back to Plato's philosophical discussion of the myth of the Ring of Gyges -- Gyges gained the power of invisibility with a magic ring, and thus seduced queen, killed king, and seized the throne. In Plato's dialogue, the character of Glaucon argues that both virtuous man and rogue would be unable to resist the temptation in such a situation: Glaucon believes that, freed from fear of reprisal, man's behavior would quickly turn criminal, and Rachels traces back to Glaucon's argument two persistent philosophical positions (both of which he considers to be in error. The first he terms Psychological Egoism: this is the belief that men only act from self-interest; even supposed altruism is purely to the advantage of the person performing the act. Alongside this Rachels presents the related position of…...
Olympus Scandal
The Olympus corporate governance and accounting scandal is and should be considered one of the largest business scandals in the history of business and the modern world. It is right up there with Enron (and in some ways worse) than the exploits and travails of Enron and Bernie Madoff. This report will look at the Olympus scandal through the prisms of utility, egoism and what precisely could or should be done (if anything) to finally put an end to the malfeasance perpetrated by Olympus and others. While some corporate-related laws are moderately to very effective in stopping wrong-doers, it is impossible to stop them all without clamping too hard down on the people that are not doing wrong.
SOX & AICPA
There are some legal, sociological, mental and corporate concepts that can be brought up here. Two of those would be Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. SOX was…...
mlaReferences
AICPA,. (2015). AICPA - AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. Aicpa.org. Retrieved 22
April 2015, from http://www.aicpa.org/research/standards/codeofconduct/
Pages/default.aspx
Armitage, J. (2013). Michael Woodford ... The Olympus whistleblower's back in focus.
Euthanasia and Ethical Egoism
Euthanasia
Euthanasia is the practice or act of terminating a person's life in order to relieve pain and suffering AVMA Panel on Euthanasia, 2001.
Euthanasia is loosely termed as mercy killing since it is a deliberate action that is intended to end life in a painless manner. Physician-assisted suicide is another terminology for euthanasia. A person's life would be terminated either by a lethal injection or by suspension of medical treatment. When a decision is made that restricts the conducting of heroic measures when a patient is in a life-threatening situation, the term euthanasia would apply. Euthanasia is illegal in many countries. The National Health Service states that regardless of the person's circumstances, it is illegal to assist the person kill themselves. In the United Kingdom, assisted suicide carries a sentence of 14 years, while in the United States, the law varies based on the state.
Euthanasia is a viable…...
mlaReferences
Annas, J. (2008). Virtue ethics and the charge of egoism.
AVMA Panel on Euthanasia. (2001). 2000 Report of the AVMA Panel on Euthanasia. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 218(5), 669.
De Wachter, M. (1989). Active euthanasia in the Netherlands. JAMA, 262(23), 3316-3319.
DIEKSTRA, R.F. (1995). Dying in dignity: The pros and cons of assisted suicide. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 49(S1), S139-S148.
For example, things like a culture of silence, pressure to "maintain those numbers, a weak board, radical "innovation" and excessive goodness in certain areas to atone for evil and greed in others are all classic signs that a corporation is giving in to the executives fundamental level of psychological egoism and some serious poaching of company funds is likely occurring (Jennings, 2006). Having a consistent system of regulation in place as a well as a commitment to transparency are all clear ways that a corporation can prevent a culture of greed from taking over and offers a potential solution to the issue.
Within my personal body of ethics and values, psychological egoism is something that I acknowledge, as I do believe that the bulk of human behavior is inherently selfish. However, I realize that my other values and ethics, such as honesty, and good will towards others needs to be…...
mlaReferences
Jennings, M. (2006'). The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse: How to Spot Moral Meltdowns. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Lander.edu (2009) Psychological Egoism. Retrieved from:
http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/egoism.html
Unm.edu. (n.d.). Tyco International: Leadership Crisis. Retrieved from Unm.edu: http://danielsethics.mgt.unm.edu/pdf/Tyco%20Case.pdf
Psychological Egoism Theory
Egoism in every form necessitates explication of well-being, welfare, or self-interest. Two chief theories exist in this regard. Self-interest has been identified with personal desire satisfaction by desire or preference accounts. Usually, and most conceivably, such desires will be restricted to those that are self-regarding. Though what constitutes a self-regarding desire is debatable, clear instances and counter-instances exist: desires for one's personal pleasure will be self-regarding, while those for others' welfare won't. In objective account, self-interest is identified with state possession (e.g. knowledge or virtue) assessed separately whether or not they're desired/preferred (Shaver para.1).
The empirical principle of psychological egoism states that the defining motive behind all voluntary actions is the desire for personal welfare. In this approach, despite all actions being considered self-interest actions, egoists readily highlight the fact that individuals normally attempt to mask the defining motives underlying their actions, since this concealment will often be…...
mlaWorks cited
"Chapter 5: Psychological Egoism." The Elements of Moral Philosophy. Web. 23 May 2016.
Feinberg, Joel, and Russ Shafer-Landau. Reason and Responsibility: Readings in Some Basic Problems of Philosophy. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub. Co, 1999. Print.
Shaver, Robert. "Egoism." Stanford University. Stanford University, 2002. Web. 23 May 2016.
Ordinary thinking concerning morality from the author's perspective is "full of assumptions that we almost never question. We assume, for example, that we have an obligation to consider the welfare of other people when we decide what actions have to perform of what rules to obey" (achels, 2011 p. 51). In other words people have to generate some kind of filter for when they perform certain actions in order to avoid causing harm to others and respecting the interests and rights of those one comes in contact with. Furthermore other things that come into consideration within the thought process of morality is that people are not wholly selfish and to some degree have a level of selflessness in their interactions, acting in the interest of other individuals and groups. Moral sceptics on the other hand criticize such assumptions. These criticisms go back as far as in Plato's epublic. Using the…...
mlaReferences
Rachels, J. (2011). Egoism and Moral Skepticism. In J. White, Contemporary Moral Problems (10th Ed.). New York: Cengage Learning.
Altruism or Egoism
The dating website has become an online phenomenon where people across the world find relationships, love and intimacy. The hottest trend in the online dating is that people who have been single for several years have finally found their true love. The theories of relationship, love, intimacy, social comparison, self-categorization, and social identity reveal that individuals develop a social relationship to boost their social esteem, and people are likely to cooperate with a group who belong to their social identity. Frisen, & Wangqvist, (2010) argue that people have been dating one another in Sweden without going through informal rules. The authors maintain that people continue to indulge in love relationship despite their social identity. Williams, & Russell (2013) argue that adolescent and younger adults quest for love, and increasing number of girls believe in intimacy relationship while boys adore sexual intercourse. Additionally, Finn, (2012) think that emotional attachment…...
Right or rong? EuthanasiaIntroductionIn 2000 veteran actor Richard Farnsworth at the age of 80 took his own life rather than allow cancer to consume his final days and force him to become a burden to his family (AP). The news was shocking to some fans of the beloved series Anne of Green Gables, in which Farnsworth had starred as the beloved surrogate father to the eponymous heroine. But others, like comedian Norm Macdonald lauded the star, saying it was noble of him to make that decision for himself and for his family, regardless of what critics thought (Smith). Opponents of euthanasia, which is (in most states) the illegal doctor-assisted suicide of a person, claim that it is immoral and unjustified from an ethical perspectiveleading people like Farnsworth to take drastic measures to end their lives. Opponents note that suicide is never justified, and arguments from various ethical perspectivesfrom virtue ethics…...
mlaWorks CitedAP. “Actor Richard Farnsworth Kills Himself.” Los Angeles Times, 2000. A. Ethics: Approaching moral decisions. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007.Neuman, Scott. “Judge Overturns Assisted Suicide Law in California.” NPR, 2018. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/16/611527757/judge-overturns-assisted-suicide-law-in-california Smith, Kyle. “Why Norm Macdonald Didn’t Discuss His Terminal Cancer.” National Review, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/why-norm-macdonald-didnt-discuss-his-terminal-cancer/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-oct-07-mn-32851-story.html Holmes,
Case Study epliesJosephI think the skepticism described by Herring (1936) for ones own government is normalbut nearly a century later I feel a lot of peoples skepticism is probably justified. Maybe it is a result of growing up in the shadow of Orwells books Animal Farm and 1984. Or maybe its the fact that weve seen through the decades what governments are capable of doing, how special interests control them, and how propaganda and lies are used to twist narratives and get the public believing in something false to justify some action that the government wants to takelike the invasion of Iraq after 9/11. There are literally no ethical frameworks guiding the various intelligence agencies, from the CIA to the FBI, and so on (Fabre, 2022). That presents a problemas the rest of society at least tries to apply the ethics of deontology or consequentialism or even virtue ethics at…...
mlaReferencesPlant, J. F. (2018). Responsibility in Public Administration Ethics. Public Integrity, 20(sup1), S33-S45. I. (2020). Treasure Hunt: Ethical Egoism vs Individual Anarchism. K@ ta Kita, 8(1), 116-123.https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2017.1413927Wijaya,
Executive Interview with a TeacherFor this interview, a high school teacher was interviewed. He described his ethical beliefs to me in person. The interview was conducted in his classroom and was recorded using video for future reference. The interview was semi-structured, which allowed for a more reflective and immersive but also guided interview process to take place (Dearnley, 2005). The analysis for this paper is taken from that interview recording.Description of the Subjects Ethical BeliefsThe ethical beliefs and practices of a teacher are an important foundation for providing quality education. The subjects self-described ethical beliefs were based on the system of virtue ethics. Virtue ethics is centered around acting in accordance with ideals that if pursued will improve ones moral character; ultimately the development of ones character contributes to the development of society as a whole, as ones good and right (i.e., virtuous) conduct will positively impact others and perhaps…...
mlaReferencesDearnley, C. (2005). A reflection on the use of semi-structured interviews. Nurse researcher, 13(1).Froming, W. J. (1978). The relationship of moral judgment, self-awareness, and sex to complicance behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 12(4), 396-409.Morrell, K., & Dahlmann, F. (2022). Aristotle in the Anthropocene: The comparative benefits of Aristotelian virtue ethics over Utilitarianism and deontology. The Anthropocene Review, 20530196221105093.Trianosky, G. (1990). What is virtue ethics all about?. American Philosophical Quarterly, 27(4), 335-344.Van Staveren, I. (2007). Beyond utilitarianism and deontology: Ethics in economics. Review of Political Economy, 19(1), 21-35.
S. citizens. This is a popular argument offered by the same sex marriage movement and it is one that is compelling.
For many years homosexuality was considered illegal behavior in most jurisdictions in the United States but most such statutes have been abolished and so gays and lesbians are now full citizens who have the right to expect full rights of citizenship. This means that whatever one's ethical or moral standards might be does not mean that such standards must be expressed in the laws. Many Americans object morally and ethically to the display of pornography; the publishing of songs with colorful lyrics; and, suggestive books and magazines but each of these examples is protected by the First Amendment and the rights of gays and lesbians to marry should enjoy the same protection.
The proponents of virtue ethics are not alone in their support of same sex marriage. Followers of moral relativism…...
mlaReferences
Corvino, J. (1999). Same Sex: Debating the Ethics, Science, and Culture of Homosexuality (Studies in Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefiedl Publishers.
Koppelman, A. (2001). On the Moral Foundations of Legal Expressivism. Maryland Law Review, 777-784.
Lewin, E. (2004). Does Marriage have a future? Journal of Marriage and Family, 1000-1006.
Is Gay/Lesbian Marriage Ethical
Moral Skepticism and Knowledge
Moral Skepticism and Moral Knowledge
Morality is a much debated philosophical idea, wherein the arguments range from ethical egoism being the perfect sample of moral ethics to altruism being the perfect -- and otherwise opposite -- viewpoint. Both ideas have strong followings, and ethical egoism along is broadened to even more branches within philosophical studies. There is still much reconciliation to be done between the various problems of philosophical thought and ethical egoism or lack thereof.
Ethical Egoism
Ethical egoism is a particular form of egoism where one who is moral "ought" to do what is in one's self-interest. The morality behind egoism generally points toward the idea of self-interest; that a moral being's moral path is by focusing on one's self. This type of egoism should not be mistaken for psychological egoism, however. Psychological egoism makes a claim that beings act only in their self-interest. Ethical egoism plainly states…...
mlaReferences
Blackburn, Simon. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1994. Print.
Hume, David. A Treatise of Human Nature,. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1911. Print.
Jefferson, Thomas. "Letter from Jefferson to Thomas Law." The Founding Faith Archive. 13 June 1814. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. .
Rand, Ayn, and Leonard Peikoff. Atlas Shrugged. New York, NY: Signet, 2007. Print.
True Altruism Exist?
The objective of this study is to analyze the work of atson, et al., and Cialdini, et al. And to discuss whether true altruism exists.
atson et al. entitled "Is Empathic Emotion a Source of Altruistic Motivation" published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1981) holds that true altruism does exist while the work of Cialdini, et al. entitled "Empathy-ased Helping: Is It Selflessly or Selfishly Motivated? Published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology" (1987) holds that true altruism does not exist.
It is the belief of atson et al. that people assist others at time for reason that are purely altruistic and states specifically that the primary reason for altruism is that of 'empathy'. Cialdini et al. On the other hand do not believe that empathy is enough alone to motivate individuals to assist others but instead believe that individuals assist others because it…...
mlaBibliography
Batson, D. et al. (1981) Is Empathic Emotion a Source of Altruistic Motivation? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (February 1981)
Cialdini, RB (1987) Empathy-Based Helping: Is It Selflessly or Selfishly Motivated?" Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (April 1987)
Virtue Ethics Beats Egoism
One of the reasons that philosophy is such a fascinating topic that has endured virtually throughout the course of human history is because it presents the crux of human existence in the basic forms of what is right and wrong. Moreover, there are a number of different philosophies that present alternative versions of what values encompass what is right and wrong. Two of the most eminent such philosophies include egoism, championed by Ayn Rand, and virtue ethics, supported by Aristotle. Examining those philosophies with inheritance examples proves virtue ethics is better.
Inheritance itself is the basic notion pertaining to the concept of personal property, and is inherently linked to capitalism (Haslett 143). Essentially, inheritance means that after an individual dies, his or her personal property goes to someone else. There are a variety of laws surrounding this particular issue. In certain instances, people must take action so that…...
mlaWorks Cited
Morality as Universal.
Haslett. Justice and Economic Distribution.
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