Abstract
In contemporary debates on Ethical Egoism it is not infrequently said that its history goes back to Classical Times. This gives the impression of one and the same set of ethical positions, labelled ‘Ethical Egoism’, being debated throughout history. I think that a historical survey will correct such an impression and help us to better understand what is characteristic of modern Ethical Egoism, the chief topic of this essay. The history of Ethical Egoism—unlike, for example, that of Utilitarianism—has never been written, and even the following rough survey may, therefore, serve some useful purpose.
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Notes
The following exposition owes much, even when not explicitly indicated, to the following works: Friedrich Jodl, Geschichte der Ethik; Alasdair Maclntyre, A Short History of Ethics; Henry Sidgwick, Outlines of the History of Ethics.
The prevalence of egoistic doctrines in Athens of that time is also evidenced by the por-
trait of the Athenian statesman Callicles in Gorgias—if, that is, Plato’s portraits of contemporary people are to be trusted.
See, e.g., Humphrey Carpenter, Jesus, p. 25 and John Ferguson, Moral Values in the Ancient World, p. 213.
See, e.g., Pensées, Sect. 343.
F.C. Copleston, Thomas Aquinas, Ch. 5 gives a good account of Aristotle’s influence on Thomas’ ethics.
A good account of Nietzsche’s ethical thinking is given in Arthur Danto, Nietzsche as Philosopher.
It is also argued that, in general, there is no conflict between these three motives. This is denied, not only by Hobbes, but also by Bernard Mandeville. In The Fable of the Bees; Or Private Vices, Public Benefits (1714), Mandeville argues that vices such as envy, vanity, and deceit are necessary to the prospering of society; were the upper classes to become virtuous, society would collapse, and all would be worse off.
See, e.g., Sidgwick, op. cit., p. 236 ff.
See J.B. Schneewind, Sidgwick’s Ethics and Victorian Moral Philosophy, p. 124 f. According to David Lyons, also the usual account of Bentham is wrong. In his book In the Interest of the Governed, Lyons argues that Bentham is a kind of ethical egoist. I think that Lyons’ interpretation is wrong, and I try to show this in ‘Was Bentham an Ethical Egoist?’
This William Jevons is not identical with the better known economist and logician William Jevons.
That this is how, according to Hobbes, a law of nature should be understood is cogently argued by Gregory Kavka in ‘Right Reason and Natural Law in Hobbes’s Ethics’, pp. 123-25.
This is an appendix to Part I, Ch. 3 of The Analogy of Religion to the Constitution and Course of Nature, published 1736.
The first edition of this book was published in 1874. It underwent several editions, sometimes with substantive changes. My quotations are from the seventh edition (1907), which is the final one.
This is a reconstruction of Sidgwick’s thought suggested by J.B. Schneewind, Sidgwick’s Ethics and Victorian Moral Philosophy (see especially p. 361 ff.), which I find convincing.
In ‘Egoism and Morality’.
In ‘Ultimate Principles and Ethical Egoism’.
A survey of the discussion is given by Tibor Machan in ‘Recent Work in Ethical Egoism’.
In ‘Morality, Self, and Others’.
See, e.g., Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness; Eric Mack, ‘How to Derive Ethical Egoism’, and ‘Egoism and Rights’; Tibor Machan, Human Rights and Human Liberties.
See, e.g., ‘Baier and Medlin on Ethical Egoism’ and ‘Rule-Egoism’.
In ‘On Ethical Egoism’ and ‘In Defense of Egoism’.
In The Morality of Self-interest.
A good account of the different strands of individualistic ideology is given in Steven Lukes, Individualism.
According to John Ferguson, Moral Values in the Ancient World, p. 135 f., the individualistic form of life makes its appearance already in the fifth century.
Ethical Egoism is also intimately related to the doctrine of self-realization, which has flourished contemporaneously; it was stressed during Antiquity—especially by Stoics and Neo-Platonists—and has been a recurrent theme since the Renaissance. I shall not, however, discuss the complicated relations between this doctrine and Ethical Egoism.
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© 1988 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Österberg, J. (1988). A Short History of Ethical Egoism. In: Self and Others. Synthese Library, vol 196. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2879-4_2
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