Egoism
Selfishness, despite it's negative and offensive connotation, is a
part of everyday human decision making. There are two different types of
decision which one must consider: the quick unimportant but necessary
decisions, and the important, thought-out and justified decisions. These
are not absolute definitions or values for different decisions, merely
general classifications. Often, the decisions made will be in the best
interest, of the most desirous consequences, for whomever is making the
decision.
There are in life those decisions which truly require little thought.
Whether a person wants to wear a sweater or a T-shirt, to have milk or
juice for breakfast, to watch the news on TV or listen to it on the radio,
etc; these are all examples of simple decisions. These are always solved
with what the person desires. If the weather is hot today, a sweater
would make the wearer uncomfortable, so the person would chose the T
shirt. The milk/juice dilemma is usually solved by mood and/or availability. TV news versus radio news is also personal preference. These
decisions are generally of little consequence, and thus often require little
thought.
There are then the larger decisions in life, the moral dilemmas.
These are the decisions which generally hold greater consequences for the
person making the decision, and thus require more thought and justification. The justification is an important part of this type of decision,
especially when both choices may result in a negative consequence of
some sort. Such dilemmas are often handled in a pro/con manner, in which
the person deciding weighs out the positive and negative aspects of each
prospective choice. The "pros" and "cons" chosen to be weighed will then
be judged by that person's own values and desires. The choice which has
the more desirable outcome--the choice with the greater gain for the
person and the least amount of loss--will win the decision. For example,
let us suppose a young man wishes to purchase a computer. Because of the
amount of money involved in such a decision, the consequences of each
choice must be considered. The price of the computer choices, the features available, i.e. benefits of buying that computer, and the necessity
for the given features, as well as many other consequences must be
considered. All of the positive aspects of a choice--a certain necessary
program, a large amount of memory, a CD player--must be weighed against
the negative aspects of each choice--the price, lack of a certain feature-
and then a decision is made based on the relative pros and cons of each
computer choice.
Selfishness is a part of both types of decisions in that it will
always influence the choice made. What the person making the decision
desires their personal outcome to be will reflect in the choice selected.
With the previous simple decisions, a self serving decision is not a
problem. The person wanted to wear a T-shirt, or wanted to drink
orange juice, simply because they wanted to. With the more complex and
larger decisions, the selfish aspect of the decision lies in the justification. For the aforementioned computer buyer, again he purchased the
computer he wanted because he found one which offered him the best
computer with the lowest cost, i.e. the most benefit for the least amount
of loss. Of course, the decision to purchase a computer in the first place
was a selfish one, because he wanted the computer. However, it did not
necessarily effect anyone else.
Now let us observe the example of an police officer in charge of a
hostage negotiation, in which one person's decision will affect several
other people. A robber in a local jewelry store has discovered that the
police are waiting outside the store to arrest him. Using his weapon, he
publicly threatens the life of a person in the store if the police do not
comply with his demands for a means of escape. The officer has the
choice of complying with the criminal's demand or taking the criminal by
force with his men. If he complies with the criminal, then he may not be
able to apprehend the criminal. If he storms the building with his men,
then there is a chance that the hostage may be hurt. The officer cannot
make a quick decision, because the consequences of either choice are so
great. Let us assume that the officer in question strongly believes in the
sanctity of human life and desires strongly to see that no one gets hurt, if
possible. Whichever choice the officer makes, it will be based around this
value, which the officer will not violate unnecessarily. His choice will
comply, as closely as possible, to his set value--what he wants to happen
will be the overriding factor in the choice he makes. Because the officer
will pick the choice that offers the greatest opportunity for his value to
be met, and because doing so will bring him pleasure, his decision, in
essence, is a selfish one.
Now, through these examples and taking into account the justification, we can see that (in reference to the chart in Purtill's book) numbers
1, 3, 5, and 6 are all possible, and that the examples used in numbers 2, 4,
7, and 8 are forms of justifiable selfishness. These justifiably selfish
acts are so because while they appear to not be selfish in nature, through
understanding the person's justification in each example we can se how
they are indeed selfish. In the example for number 2, doing something bad
for oneself in order to bring about good for others, the girl is washing
dishes in order to allow the regular staff a holiday break. The girl may
feel that by doing the rest home staff's job of washing the dishes, she is
making the staff happy. If the girl believes that the happiness of others is
equal in need to that of her own, then she values making others happy. By
keeping in harmony with her own values, she herself is pleased. Thus, this
example would fit under number five, doing something good for others in
order to bring about good for others. Example number four, the neighbor is
running his lawn mower in order to get revenge, and revenge, by definition,
is believed by the neighbor to bring pleasure to him. So, this example
actually fits under number 6, doing something bad for others in order to
bring about good for oneself. Examples number 7 and 8 are also reconciled
this way. In number 7, the ex-boyfriend wishes to make his former
girlfriend happy, and since he obviously values her happiness, he will be
pleased at seeing her happy, and is thus trying to do good for himself,
placing this example also under number 5. In example number eight, the
manager sees the risk of being caught the same way a craps player sees
the possibility of rolling a seven. Although getting caught may be inevitable, the risk is justified for the manager by the potential gain, and thus he
sees himself doing good for himself, and this would fit under number 6,
doing something bad for others in order to bring about good for oneself.
It is disturbing and offensive for people to be called selfish, but
that is how decisions are made. Either it is direct selfishness, in which
the person chooses an alternative because that person finds it more
pleasing, or justified selfishness, in which the person takes into account
keeping in harmony with their own values, which will bring them pleasure.
Thus, all acts are selfish, yet not all selfish acts are bad.
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