VARIETIES OF
EGOISM AND HEDONISM
DESCRIPTIVE EGOISM ("PSYCHOLOGICAL
EGOISM") = the purely descriptive claim that all human motivation is
ultimately self-interested--that is, aimed at benefiting oneself. [Distinguish self-motivation from selfish
motivation (Beauchamp, p. 46).]
Descriptive Egoism implies that whenever an agent has a choice between
two acts A and B, if she believes that act A will benefit her personally more
than act B, then she will always do act A, and never do act B.
Self-motivation: To say that a desire or goal is
self-motivation is simply to say that it is one's own desire or goal
(not someone else's).
Selfish
motivation: To say that a desire or
goal is a selfish motivation is to say that it is a desire for one's own good
(or a desire to benefit oneself) or that the goal is one's own good (or to
benefit oneself).
If
I have a desire for the good of another person (which is not itself derived
from a desire to benefit myself) or if the good of another person is my goal
(not in order to somehow benefit myself), that desire or goal is part of my self-motivation
(it is my desire or goal) but it is not selfish motivation.
CONTRAST WITH
ALTRUISM
To say that motivation is PURELY EGOIST is to say
that it is entirely directed to benefiting oneself.
To say that motivation is PURELY ALTRUISTIC is to
say that it is entirely directed at benefiting persons other than oneself.
Logically,
there are lots of alternatives between PURELY EGOIST and PURELY ALTRUISTIC
motivation. The DESCRIPTIVE EGOIST must
deny not only that there are PURELY ALTRUISTIC motives, but also that there are
MIXED EGOISTIC/ALTRUISTIC motives.
DESCRIPTIVE
HEDONISM
Some
useful terms:
(1)
Pleasures = intrinsically desirable conscious states
(2)
Pains = intrinsically undesirable conscious states
(3)
Net Hedonic Value of a Life = the sum of pleasures (positive) and pains
(negative) contained in the life [we
assume that they can be summed].
DESCRIPTIVE HEDONISM (which is one type of
Descriptive Egoism) = the purely descriptive claim that all human motivation is
ultimately aimed at maximizing the net hedonic value one's own life. Descriptive Hedonism implies that given a
choice between two acts A and B, whenever a subject believes that choosing A
will generate more hedonic value than choosing B, then s/he will always choose
A, and never choose B.
AN ARGUMENT
AGAINST DH AND DE
I. There
are lots of examples of apparent non-egoistic behavior
Examples: Mike Mann (Beauchamp p. 45), heroic rescues,
apparent self-sacrifice, etc.
II. The
only plausible DE explanation of these examples is a DH explanation, according
to which apparently non-egoistic behavior is really done in order to
maximize the net hedonic value of one's life.
This is Lincoln's Defense of DE.
III.
Bishop Butler's distinction: We
must be careful to distinguish between the motive or goal of an
action and the byproducts of an action that are not motives or goals.
IV. Even
if it is true that believing that one has achieved what one desires produces a
feeling of satisfaction (pleasure) and even if believing that one has failed to
achieve what one desires produces a feeling of dissatisfaction (pain), this
does not imply that the feelings of satisfaction (or avoiding the feelings of
dissatisfaction) are the goal of all our actions. They could simply be byproducts of
believing that we have achieved our goals.
V. There
is a thought experiment that provides evidence against DH (including the DH
explanation of apparently non-egoistic behavior): The Experience Machine Thought Experiment.
VI. The
Experience Machine Thought Experiment provides direct evidence against DH and
indirect evidence against DE, because DE depends on DH for its explanation of
examples of apparently non-egoistic behavior.
BISHOP BUTLER'S
DISTINCTION: The distinction between
that for the sake of which an act is done (the goal or motive of
the act) and a byproduct of an act that is not the goal.
BISHOP BUTLER'S
QUESTION: Do people perform apparently
nonegoistic acts for the sake of the feelings (e.g., of personal satisfaction)
that they obtain from performing such acts, or do they (at least sometimes)
obtain the relevant feelings (e.g., of personal satisfaction) as byproducts
of acting on nonegoistic desires (e.g., a genuine desire to benefit some other
person)?
The DE/DH
ANSWER: They perform the acts for the
sake of the personal feelings (e.g., feelings of personal satisfaction). The feelings are the goal or motive
of the action.
The Anti-DE/DH
ANSWER: (At least sometimes) they
perform the acts for the sake of nonegoistic goals and motives. The personal feelings (e.g., feelings of
personal satisfaction) are simply a byproduct of believing that one has
achieved one's goals, even non-egoistic goals.
HOW
THE EXPERIENCE MACHINE THOUGHT EXPERIMENT UNDERMINES DESCRIPTIVE HEDONISM
Consider the following valid deduction:
Premise (1)
Descriptive Hedonism
Premise (2):
In situation EM (the Experience Machine Example), there is a human subject
S and there are acts A (pushing the button that will hook S up to the
Experience Machine for life) and B (not pushing that button) such that the
subject S believes that choosing A will generate more hedonic value than
choosing B.
Conclusion:
The subject S will choose A.
The
premises deductively imply the conclusion.
Therefore, if there is even a single case in which Premise (2) is true
but the human subject S does not choose A, then Premise (1), Descriptive
Hedonism must be given up. Why? [Hint: Apply the definition of "deductively imply".]
But
there is strong evidence that many people would refuse to hook up for
life.
Why does this
reasoning also indirectly undermine DE?
PARADOX
OF HEDONISM: For human beings,
attempting to maximize the sum of one's pleasures over pains (i.e., attempting
to produce hedonic maximization) may not be hedonically maximal (i.e., may not
maximize the sum of one's pleasures over pains). (There may be other goals and desires which, if pursued, would
produce more total pleasure over pain than would be produced by someone
attempting to maximize the sum of pleasure over pain.)
PARADOX
OF EGOISM: For human beings, attempting
to maximize the satisfaction of one's self-interested goals and desires may not
maximize one's happiness. (There may be
some mixture of egoistic and non-egoistic goals and desires which, if pursued,
would produce more happiness for the individual than pursuing only
self-interested goals and desires.)
II.
Normative
NORMATIVE EGOISM ("ETHICAL EGOISM") = the
normative claim that one OUGHT to act only on self-interested motives--that is,
that one ought to aim only at benefiting oneself.
NORMATIVE HEDONISM = the normative claim that one
OUGHT to act to maximize the net hedonic value of one's life.