PHIL 150 1st Edition Lecture 9Outline of Last Lecture I. Is There a Duty to Help the Starving?II. Psychological EgoismIII. Is Altruism Possible?IV. Conclusion About Psychological EgoismOutline of Current Lecture I. Three Arguments For Ethical EgoismII. Three Arguments Against Ethical EgoismCurrent LectureRachels Chapter 5 Part 2Three Arguments For Ethical Egoism- Ethical Egoism: the radical idea that the principle of self-interest accounts for all of one’s obligations- Doesn’t tell you how to avoid helping others- The argument that Altruism is self-defeating Isn’t really an argument for Ethical Egoism at all The argument concludes that we should adopt certain policies of behavior, and those policies may appear to be egoistic However, the reason we should adopt those policies is decidedly unegoistic- Spelling it out:1. We ought to do whatever will best promote everyone’s interests2. The best way to promote everyone’s interests is for each of us to pursue our own interests exclusively3. Therefore, each of us should pursue our own interests exclusivelyThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- If we accept this reasoning, we are not Ethical Egoists, our ultimate principle is one of beneficence- Ayn Rand’s Argument Altruism leads to a denial of the value of the individual The enormity of the extent to which altruism erodes men’s capacity to grasp the value of an individual life It reveals a mind from which the reality of a human being has been wiped out- Remarks lead to the following argument:1. Each person has only one life to live. If we value the individual, then we must agree that this life is of supreme importance. After all, it is all one has, and all one is2. The ethics of altruism regard the life of the individual as something to be sacrificed for the good of others. Therefore, the ethics of altruism do not take seriously the value of the individual3. Ethical Egoism, which allows each person to view his or her own life as having supreme value, does take the individual seriously-it is, in fact, the only philosophy that does4. Thus, we should accept Ethical Egoism- Ethical Egoism as compatible with commonsense morality Ordinary morality consists in obeying certain rules Ethical Egoism doesn’t challenge ordinary morality, it only tries to explain and systematize itThree Arguments Against Ethical Egoism- The Argument that Ethical Egoism Endorses Wickedness Suppose that someone could benefit from doing terrible things Ethical Egoism would have to approve- The argument that Ethical Egoism is logically inconsistent- The argument that Ethical Egoism is unacceptably arbitrary The principle of equal treatment: we should treat people in the same way unless there is a good reason not to Treating people in the same way does not always ensure the same outcome- Ethical Egoism advocates for dividing the world into two categories of people-ourselves and everyone else We obviously treat ourselves better Violates the Principle of Equal