Ethical Egoism In Super Size Me

Introduction:

In the movie, Super Size Me (2004), depicts a man, Morgan Spurlock, who takes on a challenge to portray the influence that the fast food industry has on the world. Specifically, he has to eat McDonalds every day for thirty days, three times a day, having eaten every single item on the menu at least once, and has to super-size his order if offered. During the challenge, he will be monitored by three doctors--a practitioner, a cardiologist, and a gastroenterologist. Prior to the challenge, Spurlock was pronounced healthy and created statistics of his health to compare to the ending result. As the challenge progressed, he began to feel the effects of eating McDonald’s daily, where he would feel stomach pain, chest pain and even begin

Almost everyone said that they usually go to McDonald’s for their fast food fix, since it is the most convenient fast food chain restaurant; literally around every corner. In a sense, ethical egoism is an important factor that ridicules the everyday life of human beings. According to Alexander Moseley, “Ethical egoism is the prescriptive doctrine that all persons ought to act from their own self-interest” (Moseley, p. 1). Indefinitely, individuals choose to eat McDonalds whether every day, once a week or even once a month is truly based on their self-interest. Ethical egoism contains the phrase ‘self-interest’ and it basically ties into the fact that individuals who develop health problems or have declining health is acting upon their own will. Much so, “...ethical egoism states that I ought to act in my own self-interest--even if this conflicts with the values and interests of others--simply because that is what I value most” (Kay, 1997, p. 6). To test out the influence that fast food industries have on individuals, Spurlock took on the challenge only to find that within self-interest, soon enough, McDonald's was what he valued most. If he did not eat McDonald’s for a few hours, he would begin to crave, feel

Spurlock went in for his regular checkup and about one week and a half in, his health results declined tremendously. His three doctors that were in charge of monitoring him said that if he continues to do the challenge, they may not know what the outcome may be; could be worse or the same. In relation, “Ethical relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to the norms of one’s culture. That is, whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced” (Velasquez, and Andrew, 1992, p. 3). In this sense, the individuals that choose and/or is addicted to McDonald’s is what they think is morally right to do. Though in another society, it is wrong to be eating McDonald’s quite as often as the addicted individuals or even be eating fast food at all. In detail, “...ethical relativists claim that some moral rules really are correct, and that these determine which moral claims are true and which false. Many are true. People sometimes get it right in ethics, and they do that when their beliefs agree with the correct moral standards” (Landau, 2015, p. 292). In this film, many individuals believe that eating McDonalds or at any fast food restaurant will improve their quality of life, make them happy and give them a purpose. For example, Spurlock interviewed a guy who ate at least one Big Mac