Universalised Hedonism: Room For Unselfishness

I say that most forms of universalised hedonism lead to an emphasis on unselfishness, because there is one obvious exception. It has sometimes been held that the greatest general good results from everyone pursuing his own interests as hard as he can without any regard to anyone else's. Clearly such a view leaves room for unselfishness only in a very paradoxical sense. The only way in which I can display unselfishness, in the sense of a proper recognition of other people's interests, is by behaving in the sort of way normally regarded as thoroughly selfish. Unselfishness in the ordinary sense is for such a view as this not a virtue but a vice.

However, with this one exception, universalised hedonism does normally give rise to a morality which

It might be the case that the logic of 'selfish' and 'unselfish' resembles that of such terms as 'small' and 'large'. In other words, there might be a scale of selfishness unselfishness, such that if one person A occupies a higher position on the scale than another person B, A is said to be more unselfish than B, and B is said to be more selfish than A. And it might be held that, other things being equal, a person who occupies a higher position on the scale is morally better than one who occupies a lower position. Actions or courses of action might also be graded as selfish or unselfish in the same general way

Now it might also be the case that if I do not live up to the ideal of selflessness, and necessarily occupying a lower position on the selfishness-unselfishness scale than one I could have occupied if I had lived up to that ideal. Then I could, other things being equal, become a morally better person than I am by living up to the

According to most commonly held moral viewpoints, there is no one general answer to the question 'What should I do when my interests conflict with someone else's?' unless this answer is simply 'It depends on the circumstances'. A person might hold that when my interests conflict with someone else's I ought always to let the other person's interests prevail; or ought always to try to reach a compromise; or ought always to try to get my own way by every means at my disposal. But most people in fact think that different courses of action are appropriate on different occasions. And the way in which a person will apply the terms 'selfish' and `unselfish' in a situation of this kind is closely connected with his opinions as to what is the most appropriate course of action in that particular situation. This in turn is bound up with his opinion as to what would be the fairest way of resolving the