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Ethical Dilemmas: The Egoism Theory

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In the case dilemma presented, there is no right thing to do but we are morally compelled to act upon the situation that confronts us. Putting this dilemma in a real life situation the panic of the dilemma would most likely allow us to let the first people who come to the lifeboat on board. This choice could be the lesser evil; it would be hard to imagine anyone throwing someone back overboard just because someone else's life could be thought as more valuable. The main problem with this dilemma is the insufficiency information provided. We do not know anything about these people except their one-sentence descriptors, hardly enough to judge their worth at life. We could say that there is definitely a double effect in this dilemma. We cannot …show more content…

Egoism theory is full of self interest and self motivated moral decisions. If we allow ourselves to use the Egoism theory then we would most likely choose ten people who we believe are the best, for example a doctor because they might be able to help if we were hurt, any famous artist or director in spite of hopefully getting a news story with us involved and being recognized for our decision. We could believe that choosing these ten people who we think are the best may be the best choice, but as soon as we show any kind of self interest or recognize that this decision was made could help oneself in any shape or form then we are making the decision of allowing these ten people under what the Egoism theory implies. Ethical egoism choice could be a moral choice that is understood as a consequentialist theory according to which the consequences for us who are already on the lifeboat will take to matter more than any other result. Egoism theory will prescribe actions that may be beneficial, detrimental, or neutral to the welfare of certain individuals. Another view we could have under the Egoism theory would be to simply not let anyone else on board, we could try to justify that we are putting our lives at risk already with having fifty people on the lifeboat and allowing even just ten more would compromise our safety. For example, if we don't leave room for excess capacity as a safety factor in our …show more content…

The Kantian Ethics is a duty-based theory, meaning we will choose who we should choose because it is what we should do and is morally right action in accordance with the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative is extremely important when it comes to deciding what choice is morally correct and deciding what our duty is to do. The Kantian Ethics expresses that we should treat every single person with dignity and worth and as if it they were ourselves. Our choice of which ten we should choose under Kantian ethics influence would be very difficult because if we put ourselves in their positions and try to see every single person with dignity and the same worth it would be impossible to make a decision of whom to save. It is clear that duty plays an important and central part in Kantian ethics because without it our choice may otherwise not be justified. While this last solution clearly offers the only means of our survival, it is morally abhorrent to many people. Some say they feel guilty about their good

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With this, he aims to sway his audience towards a different perspective, one that pushes the audience to resist against humanitarian impulses. He paints a picture of a lifeboat that seats fifty passengers and has a total capacity of sixty, allowing enough room to accommodate to ten more (para 6). Those in the lifeboat represent the rich, while those swimming outside represent the poor. However, the passengers on the boat are faced with the decision to admit only ten others when they are surrounded by one hundred people begging to get in. They cannot narrow down the pool to just ten people when everyone’s needs are the same, nor can they take in every pleading individual.

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What is the meaning of Ego? In today’s world, it means “a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance”, it is to be self-centered and care for nothing else except for one's self or, in other terms, being an individualist. Today, people have been told to care for others instead of themselves, but that is not completely true. For example, Prometheus in Anthem by Ayn Rand- is not what one would consider to be a total egotistical person. Searching through different types of definitions and reasons about the definition of ego, the assumption is that egoism is not immoral or virtuous but the balance in between.

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After the crash several men perished while few survived: Louie, Phil and Mac, stranded on a cramped raft. Phil appointed Louie in charge. On a second’s notice, Louie climbed from a follower to a leader: “Louie knew that he had to get Phil’s bleeding stopped, but if he went to him, the raft would be lost and all of them would perish” (131). Louie is now the one who has to make critical decisions in order to keep himself and the other men alive. Using the items provided in the safety provisions box in clever ways.

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The word ego is defined as “A person’s self-esteem or self-importance”. Everybody in the world has a different level of ego. Some have very high self worth, while others have very low self worth. This means an ego sets us all apart and makes us different. An egoist is defined as “A doctrine that individual self-interest is the valid end of all actions.”

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For instance, the story “Terrible Things” by Eve Bunting on page 3, it states, “somebody help! But there was no one left to help”. Correspondingly, this story describes the events that occurred in the Holocaust, face to face to such discrimination, fear had praised their selfishness and people soon forgot their morals of edicts and the choice of helping not only yourself but others. In relegation, the passage, “Is Survival Selfish” by Lane Wallace (page 317 of collections), page 318,” she got out of the plane and survived very few others in the plane, which was soon consumed by smoke and fire. For reference, if she didn’t have survival ethics she wouldn’t have survived, however, if she had time to save herself, it’s logical to rush the people out the plane, to yell and manifest a hope of survival for they were consumed by fear, for say she could have distinguished what’s at risk.

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Kantians believe that the rightness or wrongness of an action does not depend on the consequences, but on whether they fulfill a duty. They must act in a way that will produce the greatest overall amount of good in the world. In this view there is no obligation to give money to a homeless person, but it is the right thing to do. Kant’s supreme moral principle is the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative is a moral law that is unconditional for all agents because of intrinsic value.

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So the people on the lifeboat can let a few on by choice, let them all on, or leave them all. More than likely the lifeboat would choose to leave them because they want to ensure their own safety. Thus explains our

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Ethical Egoism is a simplistic approach to morality which reduces notions of justice and ethics to mere self-indulgent desires. This philological approach asserts that an action which satiates an individual 's desires or inclinations is right, while an action that goes against an individual 's wishes is categorically immoral. In sum, Ethical Egoism puts the individual 's wants, interests, and aspiration at the forefront of morality. The movie Rain Man is riddled with instances and scenarios of the protagonist Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) employing Ethical Egoism. In fact, the entire premise of the movie and the development of the plot rely on Charlie continually using Ethical Egoism to make decisions.

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This is discussed by Shafer-Landau in The Fundamentals of Ethics; he says that ethical egoism “arbitrarily makes my interests all-important” (114). If a person is required to do whatever is necessary to increase their well-being, then they must only act in their interests. Ethical egoism allows individuals to think that there is no one more important or as important as them. It supports the belief that egoists should only care for themselves, ignoring everyone else’s needs and wants. An ethical egoist will only do the things that are pleasurable for them and that increase their welfare.

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Egoists argue that acting in self-interest can result in position action because the individual knows best how to benefit his own self. If everyone were to act in the interest of others, then the general welfare of all would decrease as they are never working for their own good. Egoists trust that others will act in their own interests, thus making it unnecessary to take action solely for their

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Where our choices should include everyone, as universal to be considered moral or immoral. His choice would be based on the common sense rather than what one feels on the time on having to choose. Kant believes in continuacion of life, where maintaining life is a moral action. In Rescue I we have to see who really is in danger, where all 6 people are in danger, how can you morally save five and kill one. We will have to follow one of the two wills which are autonomous: morality of respect to us having free will and heteronomous: respecting others morality.

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According to James Rachels, “Ethical egoism is a normative view about how men ought to act.” The views of ethical egoism is that no matter how men do react, they are doing it out of their own interests. The ethical egoist is the person who believes that the wellbeing of the people they care about means a lot, but the wellbeing of others means little, it all depends on their moral decision. By that I mean that an ethical egoist acts in their own self interests, but if they care about people, those people fall under their self interests, making the egoist’s acts go towards them. The point of an ethical egoist is to live doing what they want to do.

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I agree when Rachels says that the best argument in establishing Ethical Egoism as a viable theory of morality is Thomas Hobbes principle that we should do unto others because if we do, others will more likely to do unto us (Pojman and Vaughn, 2014, pg. 527). People should avoid harming others because we should care about the interests of other people for the very same reason we care about our own interests; for their needs and desires are comparable to our own (Pojman and Vaughn, 2014, pg. 532). Therefore, I believe that Rachel makes the better case regarding ethical

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This question will be answered using various ethical theories; neither giving a right nor wrong answer, but focus on their respectful views. In this paper, I will argue that Patrick’s decision is not morally justified when taking into consideration

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Psychological egoism asserts that people always act selfishly and self-centered. Ethical egoism asserts that people should always act in his or her own self interest. Psychological egoism defines how we are as human beings. It is the prime idea that selfless acts do not exist. It is the belief that all people are selfish.

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