On Balance Humans Should Adopt Ethical Egoism as a Worldview

=Overview=This is sort of troubling because of the route con has chosen to take. The previous round was for him to build a case, which he did not really do. Since the last round of the debate forbids making new arguments, it will be quite hard to offer some rebuttals if he decides to make a case in his next round as that can be misconceived as new arguments being presented. This round should be primarily for rebuttals, but there is not that much to refute. I'll just rebuild on my prior contentionsCon must advocate one of two things in order to win. He must either (a) Advocate a different Ethical Worldviewor(b) Advocate for the status quoHe directly states in his last round, that he does not intend to do (a). The issue with this is that when you are discussing whether or not we *should* engage in certain actions or behaviors(in this debate, whether we *should* alter a mindset/worldview), there is always a net comparison of the benefits between what is being discussed. This means if Con is choosing not to advocate for (a) then by default he is defending (b). Basically to break this down simplistically, when I am advocating for Ethical Egoism, he has to either show a better alternative or agree that the status quo is better. The only way this would not hold true if there was a hypothetical world where no ethical values existed. Since this is about practical application in the world around us it forces him to do one of the two. The debate is actually broken down to the following phrase.Is Ethical Egoism better than the actual and current alternative, or is it better than the possible and potential alternatives that are available. The closest con has gotten to actually proposing an alternative is this. " It's not debatable that the world would be a better place if everyone agreed on everything. But there are a lot of ethical systems out there, and any one of them could suffice as the "united" ethical system -- utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, virtue ethics, natural law ethics, contractualism, or even something as obscure as Levinasian ethics (based in human empathy)"However this is not achieving (b) because he refuses to take on an advocacy for any of the ones he listed. He is only listing possible alternatives without actually advocating for why they are better. Since Con is refusing to take on a advocacy, we can only assume he is taking on the status quo (which is multiple subjective ethical worldviews varying on the individual). The issue with this path is he is not affirming his end of the burden. He is not actually advocating for the status quo, he is not actually advocating for anything. He is just stating that Ethical Egosim is invalid by making bare assertions while doing nothing to actually support it or provide a better alternative. R1) Consistent Ethical SystemsI'm quite confused how con decided to take this on. All he does is assert that other Ethical Systems would operate as consistent ethical systems, and that Ethical Egoism is not unique to the contention. Which is kind of true. The issue yet again, is he has not taken on a advocacy. The status quo which he is defending by default, does not operate under a consistent ethical system so it would not be applied to what he is defending. He only lists other ethical systems and says that any of those ethical systems would achieve a consistent world view. That is true but again it's missing the markIf we take Util for example. Util would achieve a consistent worldview but it would do so in a way that would harm society. Under util we should simply discard the mentally ill, or kill infants due to population control. Just because you achieved a consistent world view, does not make it practical or viable in practice and reality. The reason I'm affirming in favor of Ethical Egoism is because of the potential to reduce harm. It achieves a consistent world view, that would help everyone in the long run. It would help people act in ways that benefits themselves, and through evaluating consequences make choices that in turn would benefit others. For con to beat this contention he is literally forced to defend (a) and show how under a different ethical system it can be applied in a way that is more beneficial than Ethical Egoism. He has refused to do this and simply asserted that other worldviews achieve the same thing without considering the implications of what he is proposing. Ethical Egoism would reduce harm, reduce war, reduce violence, because you can act in ways that benefit you by weighing the consequences of your actions and how it would affect you. This is covered in the prior round so I won't go back to it much(see above) In short con must propose a different ethical system and advocate for why it's superior and then show it's superior in order to negate this contention. Simply asserting something is not an argument, nor does it refute this contention. He has also refused to argue for (a) so he in turn defaults to (b) which does not allow this contention to be applied because it's entirely based on non consistent world views (the status quo). R1A) Dichotomy between Ethical Egoism and UtilCon keeps asserting my framework is Util (or util reasoning) which is false. Util by definition requires you to weigh your actions using the weight of choice. Yes it's a form of consequentialism but it's entirely different than Ethical Egosim. The difference lies in the fact that Util requires you to make the best possible choice for society as whole, while Ethical Egoism requires you to make the best possible choice for yourself. What benefits yourself and offers you the most hedonistic pleasure, can often align with what is best for society. Just as what is best for you can often not align with what is best for society. The core foundation for util is advance society, while Ethical Egoism is about advancing yourself. Just because the two often run parallel does not necessitate they are the same. Take my example from round 1, this is the perfect example that Ayn Rand lays out. Pretend you have a dying wife. She is laying on a bed and is about to die of cancer. You know you can spend 1 million dollars to save her , but also know you can spend that same 1 million to save 10 other people who are about to die. What is the right thing to do. Utilitarianism by default would assume the best option is to save the 10, since it's maximizing the well being of everyone as a whole. Egoism would assume that saving the wife is the best option since she is close to you and since saving her would affect you the most. The two are fundamentally different. Just because both can operate under consequentialism, does not mean they are the same thing. There is a fundamental dichotomy. The consequences of you actions are weighted in choices, and since those choices affect you the answers will vary and contrast with utilitarianism. That is how they contrast so let's see how they align . Let's take for example that if you can steal money and not get caught. If you steal the money, you know you won't get discovered and that you can run away in peace. Under util it's wrong to do this because it affects society negatively. Under Ethical Egoism and under the same logic, it affects society negatively and in turn effects you due to the effects it can have on society. Same outcome, yet still fundamentally different. Just because two Ethical Worldviews can be parallel at certain points does not mean they are fundamentally the same thing. We live in a society where we *have* to and are *forced* to interact with each other. Finding personal gain in and trying to make sure those interactions benefit yourself is not utilitarianism. On balance the overall net utility of Ethical Egoism is greater than that of Utilitarianism. My adversary has drastically misunderstand what I'm advocating for and is failing to recognize and accept the dichotomy between the two. The primary difference is the source of motivation, and how it results and affects you via the outcome. I'll leave one last example yet again to show how he is overlapping Util and Ethical Egoism and how he is failing to distinguish between the two. (1) A rich man who was raised in church was taught that giving in selflessness is the best way to live your life. He donates 1 thousand dollars to "charity z"(2) A rich man who was never loved seeks desire to be loved, and donates 1 thousand dollars knowing that people will like him if he does it. He donates to "charity z"(c) The outcome of both men donating is the same, as they both donated the same amount. They both would impact the same amount of lives, and both donations would result in helping others. The motivation for why they donated however is entirely different. Just because the two outcomes overlap, does not mean they are the same thing.R2) Intellectual Honesty You can value yourself more than you value others. You don't have to value others before yourself or equally for society to function. I'm lost as to what con is getting at or trying to say. He just asserts we have to be intellectually honest to be consistent with reality which is not true. You can live in a society where you value yourself over overs and often even see an overlap with the benefit of others because of how it benefits yourself (see above). If I had more space, I would go more in depth with this but it's not required. He says it makes no sense to value yourself above others. Yet if you get to pick whether you or a stranger dies, then you will pick yourself. It's perfectly rational to value your own interests above others. It's perfectly rational and within reality, and even overlaps with benefits to others. ConclusionMy adversary is affirming the status quo by default and has presented no reason to believe it's better. He is also conflating and overlapping Ethical Egoism with Utilitarianism and failing to distinguish the two. He has presented no case for either, and has merely made assertions.