Deck 24: Egoism, Self-Love, and Altruism

Question 1

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was one of egoism's most forceful critics.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Thomas Hobbes believed that all acts of kindness were really cases of disguised acts of selfishness.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Adam Smith was a supporter of the economic argument for egoism.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

While disagreeing with her choice, the text claims that Ayn Rand is correct in presenting absolute altruism and absolute egoism as the only viable alternatives.

Question 5

The text claims that the Second Commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself,"commands you to always sacrifice yourself for the other person.

Question 6

The "paradox of egoism"is that having friends is necessary for psychological health, but this requires that one not be an egoist.

Question 7

According to the "argument from counterintuitive consequences,"egoism implies that the Good Samaritan acted badly.

Question 8

Social Darwinism used evolutionary theory to justify ruthless egoism.

Question 9

In Richard Dawkins's study of birds, he found that a society made up only of "Cheaters"would flourish.

Question 10

Thomas Hobbes argued in the Leviathan that

A) rational egoism causes people to create and obey moral and civil laws.
B) egoism makes objective moral codes impossible.
C) egoism would lead to the destruction of society.
D) most people are not naturally egoists, but are made that way by poor moral training.

Question 11

The theory that everybody ought to serve his or her own interests is called

A) individual ethical egoism.
B) universal ethical egoism.
C) Social Darwinism.
D) radical altruism.

Question 12

The economist argument maintains that

A) accumulating wealth should be the only goal in life.
B) making the social good the supreme value will lead to one's own personal satisfaction.
C) the free enterprise system is an economic failure and government should act to maximize the social good.
D) everybody pursuing only their own personal good will result in maximizing the social good.

Question 13

Ayn Rand argued that

A) selfishness is a virtue and altruism is a vice.
B) selfishness is a morally wrong and altruism is an unqualified duty.
C) neither selfishness nor altruism are good in themselves, for it depends on what is best for the individual.
D) by pursuing others' interests, we will end up satisfying our own needs.

Question 14

Contrary to the Hobbesian argument, the text claims that

A) there is no tendency toward self-interest.
B) humans are capable of benevolence and altruism.
C) people seem to be equally capable in their ability to be kind and altruistic.
D) all of the above

Question 15

The Hobbesian argument claims that

A) it is permissible to be self-interested or selfish.
B) rational egoism will often lead us to do good unto others.
C) sometimes we may have to harm others in order to realize our own projects.
D) all of the above

Question 16

The "publicity argument"against ethical egoism states that

A) if the public found out that someone was an egoist, they would justly shun him.
B) most egoists don't really believe all that they say, but are merely trying to get attention.
C) it would be contradictory for an egoist to persuade others to become egoists.
D) egoism has gotten more attention and publicity than it deserves.

Question 17

The "relevant differences argument"maintains that

A) there is no rational justification for assuming your preferences are worth more than those of other persons.
B) there is no relevant difference between being selfish and serving others because it makes you feel good.
C) there are relevant differences between people that justify inequality in our society.
D) there are relevant differences between morally justified egoistic actions and immoral racist and sexist actions.

Question 18

According to sociobiologist Richard Dawkins, a study of nature shows that

A) egoistical behavior has been conditioned into us by evolution, but we should rise above our evolutionary past.
B) egoistical behavior has been conditioned into us by evolution, thus social Darwinism is justified.
C) morality is an evolutionary strategy for gene replication.
D) there are no implications for ethics that can be drawn from nature.

Question 19

Explain the difference between individual ethical egoism and universal ethical egoism. Why does the text claim that the latter is the more sophisticated and defensible theory?

Question 20

Discuss what you think is the strongest argument for ethical egoism. Explain why you think it does or does not offer an adequate defense of this position.

Question 21

Which argument against ethical egoism do you think is the strongest? Why? How might an egoist respond to this criticism?

Question 22

Discuss why the "paradox of egoism"argument says that egoists cannot consistently have friends. Discuss how "level egoism"attempts to argue that they can.

Question 23

What are the two views of the relationship between ethics and evolution? Do you agree or disagree with these authors that the biological facts about animal behavior offer insights intothe role and nature of ethics. Why?