Published By: Bono Sen

Characteristics Of Egoism

The main foundation of every human affair is self-interest!

Ego is a descriptive or ideological norm.  Egoism is an ideological position that identifies the goal behind each person's actions in terms of selfishness, morality or rationality. Ego gives birth to the desire to attract life or vitality to oneself. The characteristic of ego is to persuade a person to use the harmonious combination of his own physicality and emotions as a means of self-identification.

Egoism: There Are Three Types

Every human being's desire is born for his own interest or self-welfare. Satisfaction of desires is possible only when the matter of self-welfare is taken care of.  Every person does everything out of self-interest, no matter how 'altruistic' it may seem. There are basically three main theories of egoism.

Psychological Egoism:

The motive behind every action of mankind is driven only by the thought of self-happiness. Even if a person does good deeds, he is consciously or subconsciously driven by the thought of self-welfare. The doctrine of psychological egoism assumes that the motive behind each of our worldly actions is influenced by the idea of self-worth. It is very difficult to refute this theory of egoism where all notions of universal altruism in human society are thought to be driven by egoistic motives.

Ethical Egoism :

A person who adheres to the moral doctrine of ethical egoism should do only that which can satisfy himself.  Ethical egoists are of the opinion that if every person starts working according to his own self-interest, it will lead to the overall welfare and improvement of the society in a collective way. However, this theoretical proposition is not entirely correct, as evidenced by the projected situation called the Prison Dilemma.  Whereas, the steps taken by two prisoners to satisfy their own interests fail to protect the highest interests of both. On the other hand, the steps taken by both the people for the benefit of each other instead of their own interests benefit both of them.  As a result, it is understood that the best interests of a person cannot be protected by pursuing self-satisfaction without thinking of others. Moreover, it is not possible for the theory of ethical egoism to solve any argumentative situation.

Rational Egoism:

According to the doctrine of rational egoism, a person should reasonably do only that which satisfies the interests of that person. The only work that can ensure a person's long-term happiness is the work that rational theorists emphasize on investing everyone's time and labor. The concept of psychological egoism asserts the objective behind every action. Moral egoism speaks of morality behind every action and rationalist egoism advocates logicality for every action. Rationalist theorists are often blamed for selfishness.