On Balance Humans Should Adopt Ethical Egoism as a Worldview

1) Consistent Ethical SystemThe one thing Ethical Egoism offers is a practical worldview which establishes a constant and consistent ethical system. Ethics is just not something we should know, it's something we have to know. Ethics is engraved in our day to day lives and sets up a framework and foundation for how we decide to make choices as we go about our lives. An ethical system can be deemed as what is the "norm" for most people, and it even helps establish what is "good" and "bad" in some cases. The very framework for ethics and ethical decision making relies on weighing choices and decisions[1]. The very concept at it's core on a normative level requires us to discard "bad" choices and in turn try to make "good" choices. This extends and goes even further insofar as gauging what is rational and what is reasonable. What Ethical Egoism offers is a consistent world view that is very easy to understand. It urges us to act in our self interest, and scale that proportionally. 1A) Acting in a way that benefits society as a whole, benefits youA good way to weigh this is the "gain vs burden" aspect of this. In this debate it actually goes a little farther and would break down in a syllogism like thisP1) If people acted in their own self interest, it would be a benefit to humanity P2) People ought to act in ways that are a benefit to humanityC) Ethical Egoism is a benefit to humanity or even thisP1) Egoism promotes acting in your best interestP2) Acting in a way that benefits society is in your best interestC) Egoism promotes acting in a way that benefits societyMost ethical systems rely on Utilitarian principles in order to gauge and weigh certain factors. Ethical Egoism is a very simplistic way to measure and outline a good ethical system. When you start gauging actions and moral codes by Utilitarian principles, you will often see the result being conflict. You can scale this backwards and look at any war we have ever had, and most have occurred because of a difference in ethics and morals. This can be a result of religion, moral guidelines, or many other issues [2]. We as sentient beings have the ability to rationalize and think. We are aware of when people hurt, we are aware of when it's "bad" to do certain things. Bad is a lose term but it can be summed up pretty easily. If you act in a way that harms, society, you in turn then harm yourself. If everyone went around stealing , looting, and pillaging because it was in their own best interest, society would relapse and then collapse due to lack of structure. Logically as sentient beings we can conclude that this is not the best course of action. We can conclude that and decide that this course of action would harm society as a whole, and in turn it would harm us as well. It provides a consistent world view by promoting the betterment of society in a way that is a net benefit to you as well. If you act in ways that would erode or corrode society and how it operates, you in turn would damage yourself. This framework is consistent in making humanity a better place overall, and helping establish a consistent and constant moral framework. 1B) Damage from a non consistent ethical systemWhen you have the status quo, which is what we have now. We see differing worldviews and different ethical systems where people interpret morality in any way that they want. There is no way to avoid conflicts with this, and as previously stated this can cause conflict. This can cause wars, it can cause harm, and it can cause many other issues due to people interpreting morality and ethics however they want. We see this throughout human history, and even in modern society. People enter into conflict because they don't understand each other, and because they have a different view of ethics and morals that justifies them entering into that conflict. This often leads to a lack of understanding each other which is the prime motivator of conflict. This is a truism in both the past and the present. People attack others because they don't understand what other person believe or understand their viewpoint. If we understood each other, and acted under one ethical system it would drastically mitigate conflict. This is not a pure perfect way to end conflict, but it would drastically mitigate it. To go even further with this while a great deal of conflict, as I said is caused by misunderstanding. Another prime motivator in conflict is a clash of ethics. Any conflict you can think of generally applies this concept to it in some degree. Jihad for example, being the "poster child" for what happens when there is a clash of ethics. Muslims that are extremest use their ethical belief structure to specifically not understand others and then it clashes with other peoples ethical guidelines which in turn leads to conflict. Think back to when people were invading the middle east for oil, again war spawned due to a clash of ethics. The Persian Civil War, The Mongol Conquests, and even the War of Three Kings all spawned due to a conflict in ethical views. Think of some that happened recently. WWII being another major war where one person sought to rule and conquer under his own ethical views. The civil war is what happens when there is a clash in ethics even in a united front. Differing ethical views is a huge part of why there is conflict, and is a primary reason why having a united ethical worldview would better serve humanity2) It's moral to act in our own self interestsWe as humans have a common goal, and that is to die. We are born to live and then to die. What we do within that time and how we act is entirely dependent on our moral and ontological principles. Our goal as a species is to live, and to live in the best possible way. How we define the best possibly way is entirely dependent on our worldview. We always have and will act in ways that advance our own self interests. The ability to make rational choices shows that we as sentient beings have options in the choices we make, and that we can choose alternative pathways in the choices that we decide to make. There are reciprocating factors in those choices that occur as a direct result of them, which are consequences. The branch of ethical egoism i'm proposing is a branch of consequentialism. If we look at our hedonistic desires, it's often measured against the consequences of our actions. If we steal something and get caught, we are not prone to do it because of the consequence. However if we can steal and get away with it, it furthers our well being and maximizes our own self interest and hedonistic desires. So is it immoral to steal when you could get away with it? You then have to way the action of stealing against the impacts it has on you and society. Imagine if we could all steal and get away with it. We would corrode society and destroy it (this ties into 1A).We have an will always act in ways that promotes our own well being and interest. If we give money to someone that is in need, we get a sense of self worth. We fall in love and offer full devotion to the person that we love, for the love that is given in return. We are sentient beings that live and seek out the need for pleasure. It should be our goal to maximize that pleasure as much as possible while we can and before we die, as long as it's within reasons and weighs properly against the consequences of our actions. As I mentioned in before this there is no way to establish a ethical system that covers every possible loophole, and helps people act in a way that would always benefit humanity. What we can do however is outline a system, that helps mitigate harm severely by using Egoism under the outline consequentialism. Ayn Rand lays out an example of thisPretend you have a wife dying of cancer. Is it good to spend a fortune to save her when you lose so much in return? Most people would say it's absurd under ethical egoism, but when you weigh that against the psychological impacts it has, and the mental effects it can cause, it makes perfect sense. You are acting in order to help her, but you are also acting in order to prevent yourself harm, which is in your self interest[3]. By saving the person you love, you are also saving yourself. That is in your own self interest. If you scale this out other under utilitarian ethical systems, it would promote you letting her die and instead saving other people with the money you would use on her. This highlights the flaw in Utilitarian systems as well. Saving other people with your money would not maximize your self interest because those people that you are saving have no value to you. It would also promote the betterment of society because it allows people to act in ways that are compassionate and reasonable. Ethical Egoism not only allows us to maximize our well being, it does so by merging how we act into consequentialism which holds us accountable for our actions and the choices that we make. It we make bad choices it erodes society, which in turn is a net negative because of the foreseeable effects it will have on us. Conclusion The normative basis for our ethical system is subjective and dependent on our perception of morality and ethics. This not only leads to conflict but it is a prime motivator in conflict in both the past and the present. Failure to understand each other causes wars, it causes harm, and it is eroding society. What I'm proposing is an objective ethical system that would greatly mitigate harm and help everyone act in their own interests and through consequentialism act in a way that best benefits society. Sources[1] https://www.msu.edu...[2] http://www.scu.edu...[3] The virtue of selfishness: a new concept of egoism - By Ayn Rand