Psychology Dictionary of Arguments

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Egoism: Egoism is the attitude that one's self is, or should be, the motivation and the goal of one's own action. It is the view that one should always act in one's own best interest, regardless of the impact on others.
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Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments.

 
Author Concept Summary/Quotes Sources

John Rawls on Egoism - Dictionary of Arguments

I 136
Egoism/Rawls: under the consideration of which principles should be applied in the initial situation of a society to be built, there are no principles for avoiding egoism. That is not necessary either, because no form of egoism is a serious candidate. This only confirms that, although egoism is logically consistent and not irrational in this sense, egoism is incompatible with what we intuitively consider a moral standpoint. Philosophically, egoism is not an alternative concept, but a challenge of any conception.
>Principles/Rawls
.
In justice as fairness, this is reflected by the fact that we can interpret general egoism as an attitude of disagreement. It is what the parties are thrown back at if they cannot agree.
>Fairness.
I 147
The theory of justice as fairness/Rawls: one might think that this theory is just as egoistic in the sense that Schopenhauer believed Kant's theory to be egoistic(1).
RawlsVs: our theory of justice as fairness is not egoistic,...
I 148
...because the assumed disinterest in the goals of others does not imply that one does not ignore the rights and claims of others.
Precisely under the condition of the veil of ignorance, where the individual has no information about accidental peculiarities, it is not in a position to exploit them to its advantage. On the contrary, it must have the well-being of others in mind, since it does not know what position it will have in a society to be built.
>Justice, >Society.

1. See for this: Schopenhauer, On the Basics of Ethics, New York 1965, pp. 89-92.

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Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments
The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition.

Rawl I
J. Rawls
A Theory of Justice: Original Edition Oxford 2005


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