Self-interest Theory presentation for ethics subjects

1. SELF-INTEREST
THEORY

2.  Humans are always
and everywhere
selfish.
Self-interest is nothing but
own's personal good. It
refers to the goodness of
oneself in
the long run.
Selfish behaviour is usually
considered as the opposite of
moral behaviour, according to this
theory, even if there are objective
moral values, human beings are
incapable of living up to them..

3. Self interest theory
These are some arguments of Self
interest theory
1. The definitional argument
2. The evolutionary argument
3. The hidden benefits argument
4. The fear of punishment argumen

4. 1. Definitional
Argument
 True by definition. You are being
selfish when you do what you
want to do.
 Altruism is simply another form
of doing what we want to do
(being selfish) because genuine
altruism is impossible. People
make a choice
that pleases them.

5. Criticisms of the Definitional
Argument
 If all people are selfish, no one can
be described as selfish
 Circular Reasoning: It can sometimes fall into a
circular reasoning trap. This occurs when the
definition being used to support an argument relies
on the concept or term being argued for itself.

6. 2. Evolutionary argument
 Human beings are naturally
selfish creatures, programmed
to pursue their own interest In
order to succeed in the struggle
for survival, we look for "number
1".
 To survive and passes the
gene in next generation This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

7. Criticisms of the Evolutionary
Argument
 Empathy and altruism are as much a part of
our biological inheritance as selfishness.
Edward 0. Wilson (biologist) "Cooperative
individuals generally survive longer and
leave more offspring."

8. 3. Hidden Benefits argument
 Receive hidden benefits (praise,
gratitude positive image of
ourselves) by being nice to others
 According to self-interest
theory humans only do
good will for their own
sake, so it
still can be selfish.

9. Criticism of Hidden Benefits
 Expecting for someone to return your
help all the time, may not be the case
in some situations.
 Even though it is known that there
will be no help in return, people help
others in some cases, contradicting
the theory selfishness.

10.  Even though people want to do
bad things for their own benefit,
fear of punishment keeps
them from doing it.
 Main factor that prevents us from
doing wrong is fear of punishment
4. Fear of Punishment

11. Criticism Fear of Punishment
 No real reason to think that ALL good
behaviour is motivated by fear of
punishment
 Plato's Ring of Gyges. (Glaucon told the
story of The Ring of Gyges to illustrate his
point that justice is always self-interested.)

12.  Humans are not always selfish and
in fact are capable of genuine
altruism.
Average human being is 95%
selfish, however varies on
different experiences
Conclusion