IDIS 302: Cases and Theories

Antoinette Martsoukos

IDIS 302: Cases and Theories Copyright © by Antoinette Martsoukos. All Rights Reserved.

Contents

- Introduction

- 1. Case Study #1

- 2. Ethical Egoism

1

Introduction

Dear Students,

The following are some frequently asked questions about this course.

- What’s this course all about?

- Why am I required to take it?

- What’s required of me in this course?

- How will the course be taught?

- What do I need to do to get a good grade in this course?

This introduction provides brief answers to the above questions, which we hope will give you a
better understanding of the course and why we think you’ll find it to be one of the better courses
you take in your college career.

1. What’s this course all about?

- It’s about you! This course has been designed expressly for you. It is your course. It’s
about you, your life and the world you live in. For those reasons it may be the most
relevant course you will take in your college career.

- Happiness & Living a Good Life: How is this course relevant to your life? Well, if you
consider personal happiness relevant; and if you think it’s important to develop your own
thoughtful opinions about what is good and evil, right and wrong; and if you think it is
important for you to make the right moral choices in your personal and professional lives,
then you will find this course to be very relevant to how you want to live your life.

- Ethical Issues: We’ll be looking at a multitude of ethical issues that may arise from the
following topics in our personal and professional lives. For example, the nature of evil,
alcohol and drug abuse, social media, family values, the value of friendships, sex & love,
workplace cultures, co-workers, bosses, customers & clients, advertising and marketing,
racism & sexism in the workplace, the economy & political leadership, war and
terrorism, the Global Village, and the natural environment.

- Thinking for yourself: You’ll be asked to think through the ethical issues that arise from
the above topics (and others) and to justify your own decisions about what is right or
wrong in case studies or scenarios involving these topics.

- Moral Roadmaps: We’ll introduce you to six of the most influential ethical theories (or
moral roadmaps) in human history to add you your own moral point of view. It will be
up to you to decide how much of any of these theories to incorporate into your own
personal and professional ethics.

- Code of Ethics: You will be given the whole semester to think about, develop and write
down your own personal code of ethics. This assignment will be your major “walkaway” value from the course. Students find out a lot more about themselves than they
originally thought by completing this project!

2. Why am I required to take this course?

- I already have ethics! Why are we required to take a course in ethics? As adults, don’t
we already have our own ethics? Each of the following paragraphs help to explain why
this course is required.

- Adult Ethics: Nobody likes a know-it-all. Just about everyone has their own personal
ethics as an adult, but that doesn’t mean that we now know all there is to know about
ethics and that there is nothing more to learn about how we ought to live our lives. We
may have learned the difference between right and wrong as a child, but as we know —
the world of an adult is a good deal different from the world of a child. We may certainly
still practice the moral lessons we learned at mother’s knee, but we will be facing very
different moral choices as an adult.

- Personal Growth: “Do I think the same way I did five or ten years ago? Do I value
exactly the same things I did five or ten years ago? Would I do the same things I did five
or ten years ago? Most of us would probably say no to one or more of these questions.

- Evolving Ethics: We are constantly growing and changing, even if we’re unaware of it.
Whether we’re 18 or 48 (or older!), we find ourselves going through continual change,
whether we want to or not. We go to college, meet new people, make new friends, break
up with boyfriends or girlfriends, lose loved ones, get jobs, lose jobs, find out what we
have a passion for in life, and maybe find a BFF or the love of our lives. Not all change
is bad! Sometimes change allows us to grow in ways that help us. “That which doesn’t
kill me, only makes me stronger.” (Nietzsche)

- “When Adults Go Bad — and Good!” Do you know anyone who has become morally
worse after the age of 21? If so, doesn’t it seem logical that someone over the age of 21
can become morally better? To think, therefore, that just because we are now adults we
have nothing else to learn about ethics is both naïve and unrealistic.

- Whatever Happened to Ethics? Are we less ethical now than ever before? We hear
about horrible things happening almost daily. All we have to do is pick up a newspaper
or go online every day to be reminded that ethics and the lack of ethics, are major news in
our society: Murder in movie theaters. Ponzi schemes. Wall Street scams. Drive-by
shootings. Terrorist bombings. Widespread cheating in college. A coach sexually
abusing dozens of boys and a beloved & respected coach helping to cover it up. Drug
dealers.
But we also hear of many people doing good things for others: a young stranger
donating his bone marrow to a cancer patient, a single mother raising happy and
successful children, a friend covering her best friend’s body with her own to protect her
in the Aurora, Colorado tragedy, and a brave woman informing the police of the action of
drug-dealers in her neighborhood.
So maybe we aren’t really less ethical these days — it may be just that the news media
think bad news is more compelling and important than good news, so we always hear
more about what’s unethical than ethical!

- And the good ole days! Of course, some people will swear that we were better off
morally years ago. You may have heard your parents or grandparents tell you that when
they were young they never locked their doors or cars. People didn’t worry about
neighbors stealing from each other. And if they misbehaved at school they would be
“punished” by their teacher, their aunt on their way home, and their mother when they
got home!

- It’s the Little Things! It’s the little things that sneak up on us and get us into trouble
more so than the big things. Most people would not steal $100,000 from their workplace
and think it’s ethical to do so. But how many of us take home pens, paper, notebooks,
etc., from our workplace and think nothing of it? What about wasting time at work?
Doing school work or making private phone calls? What about the lies we tell to protect
ourselves or for our convenience? The promises we break to others that we don’t think
are important to keep? The deceptions we practice against those who may trust us? The
emotional “cheating” we may commit against our spouse or partner? As we all know,
little things add up to big things and before we know it we are in the habit of acting
unethically in our personal and professional lives. Lying and cheating simply come as
“second nature” to us by then!

- Drawing the Line: We hear people sometimes say that they don’t know where to “draw
the line” when it comes to doing the right thing. We hope this course will help you
decide where your line is and what the line consists of. Otherwise, we are tempted to
keep moving the line around to avoid making difficult moral choices. Pretty soon —
anything goes!

- Moral Imagination: Sometimes we think only of ourselves and our own little world.
We can’t imagine what other people may be going through in their lives. We think that
only our moral point of view is the correct one. Half the world’s problems may be the
result of us not “putting ourselves in the shoes of others,” not trying to understand points
of view different or opposed to our own. It’s very tempting to think that I’m right and
everyone else is wrong.

- Objective Thinking: Maybe half the other problems in the world are the result of ignorant
thinking or sometimes stupidity itself. This can come from fear and hatred of others. We
close our minds and don’t want to think. It’s too much trouble. It’s more satisfying to
believe I’m right no matter what. Of course, this is how most wars have started, why
most murders occur, why people live unhappy lives, and why others are fired from their
jobs.
To think objectively in ethics does not mean that we have to agree with others’ opinions.
It just means that we need to take the time to understand their “side of the story.” We
have to step back from our own biases and prejudices, and try to say to ourselves: “OK.
How would I think about this if I didn’t know who any of the people are in this case?”
What would be the fair thing to do, regardless of who it is?

3. What’s required of me in this course? (A Triple AAA Rating!)

- Active Engagement: The course syllabus spells out the formal requirements of the
course, but one of the informal and intangible requirements of the course is for you to be
fully engaged with the course both inside and outside of the classroom. This means
reading all assignments thoughtfully — involve yourself in the readings, ask questions,
take notes, be critical or complimentary, say to yourself “Oh yeah. I’ve thought of that
before” or “What the hell’s he talking about?!” None of the readings are very long. So
you’ll want to read them twice before coming to class.
Be fully engaged in class by listening to what the instructor and your classmates have to
say, taking notes, asking questions, and giving your thoughtful opinions about topics
being discussed. This does not mean that you have to be a “blabber mouth” and raise you
hand to comment on every question the instructor asks. You may not even speak during
a class, but you’re thinking all the time! We’ve noticed that some of our outstanding
students at the end of a semester are those who do not talk a lot in class, but when they do
they have some very good things to say!
We will have a number of debates, group discussions, moot court trials, and role-playing
assignments in class or in online forums. All students are expected to actively contribute
to the class in these exercises by being fully prepared, thoughtful in their presentations,
and courteous and respectful of their classmates.
Attitude Toward Learning: We always ask our students, “Why are you in college?”
Answers include the following. “I need a degree to get a job.” “I just want to get
through and get it over with.” “My parents are paying for it.” “I’ve been raising a
family, now it’s my turn to do something for myself.” “I screwed up when I was twenty,
but now I want a college education.” “I want to go to law school or graduate school.”
“I just love to learn.” Any or all of these reasons for going to college are OK. But
we’ve always told students that if you have the right attitude toward learning, then you
will take care of all the other reasons for attending college.
Right attitude means approaching this course with an open mind and a willingness to
listen to constructive criticism from the instructor — and to try your best to improve your
work as a result. It also means that you should listen respectfully to the opinions of your
classmates and try to understand “where they’re coming from.” One of the most
important things we can learn in college (or anywhere else for that matter) is to realize
that other people have opinions that they believe are just as true and valuable as our own.

- Achievement: Making the effort to realize the best of our abilities: This follows from
having the right attitude toward our studies. As we know, right effort goes a long, long
way toward success in any field. This is especially true in academics. We’ve seen
students fail our course simply because they did not make the effort to turn work in on
time, attend class, or do their best on assignment. Conversely, we’ve seen other students,
who were struggling at the start of the semester improve their grades dramatically
because of their extra effort. So, if you want to achieve a good grade in this course you
will need to put forth the effort to do so. But instructors will do all they can to work with
you to realize that goal.

4. How will the course be taught?

- No Preaching! First, we will not preach in this course, but rather teach. And by teach,
we don’t mean that we will try to teach you what is right or wrong, good or evil. This is
for you to decide. It is not our business to try to impose any kind of morality or ethics on
you. And be assured that the course is not designed to try to sway you in any one
particular ethical direction other than the one you choose for yourself. We’re not here to
try to change your personal values or ethics, but rather to challenge you to think more
critically and creatively about both.

- Socratic Method: We will help you to think honestly and objectively about your own
moral and ethical opinions by using the Socratic Method in classroom discussion. The
Socratic Method is used by instructors to challenge students (and themselves!) to think
about a topic from as many angles as possible by asking a series of simple & straightforward questions. The process continues until everyone in the discussion is satisfied that
there are no other questions that can be asked about the answer that is given to last
question. But this rarely happens! The value of the Socratic Method is to show us that
we may not always know exactly what we mean by a word, concept or opinion until we
subject it to some rigorous thinking. For example, suppose your friend defined “love” as
doing anything in the world for the person you love. Are you completely satisfied that
this definition of “love” is true and complete? Would you have a question for your friend
about this definition? You probably would!

- Lectures: No long and boring lectures! Instructors will not stand up in front of you or
write page after page on line to lecture you on a particular ethical theory. But we will
provide you with clear and accurate outlines about each ethical theory. This includes
knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of each theory and whether or not
students are applying theories accurately to case studies.

- Emphasis on Interactive Classes: We’ve all heard of the phrase “teaching by example.”
We believe this is the only way that it makes sense to say that we are teaching ethics in
this course. We will try to teach you to teach yourself about how to dig much deeper into
your own personal values and ethics. To this we will employ a number of assignments
and in-class exercises that challenge you to think for yourself about your ethics. So,
instructors will serve as discussion facilitators, debate moderators, role-playing directors,
and leaders of inter-active class exercises, “devil’s advocates,” and a source of ethical
issues outside the classroom — e.g., daily “ethics in the news” stories, movies and videos
clips with interesting ethical content, and ethical issues in social media.

- Conversations: Please take advantage of your instructors’ office hours or online
availability to simply engage in conversation about the course. Many students find it
helpful to discuss any problems they may be having with the course content, instruction,
or their classmates by meeting privately with the instructor. But also feel free to continue
to discuss an ethical question or issue that interests you with your instructor. Try to enjoy
this opportunity as you go through the semester. Instructors welcome conversations with
students. It shows that you’re interested in what’s going on in the class!

5. What do I need to do to get a good grade in this course?

- Short Answer: Read the assignments, study, work hard, come to class prepared,
participate in class, make efforts to improve when necessary, have a good attitude toward
the course and the assignments, respect the subject matter, your classmates and
instructor, be courteous at all times, show up on time.

- Shorter Answer: Work with your instructor throughout the course! We’ve seen
numbers of students earn poor grades or have a letter grade deducted from their
assignments and/or final grades simply as a result of tardiness in turning in work, or not
turning work in at all! No instructor is “out to get you.” We’re here to help you. But
you have to make the effort to do your best in this course.

- Get into it!: We know this is a required course, and it would be easy to say, “I just want
to get through it with a passing grade and get it over with.” Not the right attitude!
There was a book out a few years ago entitled, She’s Just Not That Into You. Don’t let
this be your mantra for the course. If you really try to “get into the course,” you’ll find
that you will almost automatically start doing better in all aspects of the course
requirements — and ultimately earn a good grade at the end of the semester.

- Enjoy Yourself!: This will follow from above. When you really get into the course,
you’ll enjoy it more. Talk with your family and friends about your readings,
assignments, and what we talk about in class. We do this all the time outside of class; for
example, we talk about our problems at work, our romantic relationships, family issues,
personal goals, increase in crime, college debts, the economy, politics, war, and
Facebook — just to name a few areas of interest.

1

Case Study #1

Choose only one case!

Application of Ethical Egoism and Ethical Relativism

INSTRUCTIONS: Please read carefully and follow precisely!

Choose a case study from among the five case studies attached. Read your case study carefully and then follow the steps below in writing your second case study assignment.

Note: Do not repeat the case study nor summarize the case study.

- Identify the ethical issue in the case and explain why you think it is an ethical issue and not a legal or policy issue only.

- Moral Agent(s): Identify the person or persons you think are responsible for bringing about the ethical issue (moral agent), and explain how they brought about the ethical issue.

- MoralRecipients: Identify the person or persons, who you think may be seriously affected (for better or worse) by the actions of the moral agent(s); and explain the consequences of the moral agent’s action on this person or these persons.

- Define: Ethical Egoism and Ethical Relativism

- Explain: Explain what you think an ethical egoist and ethical relativist would advise as the right thing to do in this case and why.

- Consequences: Trace out the consequences of each theory as applied to the case.

- Strengths&Weaknesses: Explain what you think are the strengths and weaknesses of the ethical egoist’s advice and ethical relativist’s advice. (See step # 3 for help on this!)

- YourPosition: Argue for what you think is the right thing to do in this case by following exactly the ABCD Guide to Ethical Decision-Making (found under “Files Directory,Sakai).

FORMAT & LENGTH: Please word-process your essay and convert it to a PDF file if you do not use Microsoft Word. Your case study should be a minimum of three (3) pages, but you may write more if you like.

LATE PENALTY: One letter grade deduction for each calendar day late.

The Cases.

Choose only one! Remember to apply both theories!

Case #1: “Outside the Fold” Source: https://www.scu.edu/the-big-q/the-big-q-blog/outside- the-fold.html

*DISCLAIMER: All characters and scenarios in these cases are fictional.*

Alexa comes from a close-knit Chinese family. Her parents came to the United States from Beijing in 1981 so that her father could attend college. Alexa was born in California, and her parents chose to remain in the U.S. Although they are comfortable in their adopted homeland, they remain very traditional about certain things. In particular, they expect Alexa to marry a Chinese boy.

Alexa, however, doesn’t see things the same way. When she went away to college, she was open to dating people from every ethnicity. She started seeing Brian, an Irish Catholic guy, two months into their freshman year. Now a junior, Alexa is expecting a visit from her parents, and Brian would like to meet them.

Should Alexa introduce Brian to her family? Is it racist for Alexa’s parents to oppose interracial relationships?

How would the ethicists (ethical egoists and ethical relativists) advise you to answer this question? How would you answer this question? Why in both cases?

Case #2: Crusading at the Dinner Table

Source: https://www.scu.edu/the-big-q/the-big-q-blog/crusading-at-the-dinner-table.html

**DISCLAIMER: All characters and scenarios in this post are fictional. **

Towards the end of her senior year of high school, Grace volunteered for a local animal rights organization. Although she was always an animal lover, she had never really considered the issue of animals being raised to be eaten. During her time with the organization, she became passionate about animal rights and became a vegetarian. She was also able to convince her parents to become vegetarians.

Now a new freshman, Grace faces a dilemma. Everyone around her seems to eat meat. Though the dining hall offers plenty of vegetarian options, she is unhappy about the presence of meat as a constant feature among the offerings.

Grace isn’t able to put aside her feelings about the suffering of animals. Going by her own experience of having her eyes opened to the cause, Grace is convinced that spreading knowledge about the suffering of farm animals is the only way of converting more people into vegetarians.

On one hand, she feels she has a duty, when sitting at a table with people who are consuming meat, to express her beliefs. On the other hand, she knows that directly confronting people about their choices tends to alienate them. She would like to establish good relationships and friendships with the people around her, but she would also like to express her beliefs and teach people about her cause. Should Grace confront her friends at the dining table?

How would the ethicists (ethical egoists and ethical relativists) advise you to answer this question? How would you answer this question? Why in both cases?

Case Study #3: “Browsing or Cyber-stalking?

Source: https://www.scu.edu/the-big-q/the-big-q-blog/browsing-or-cyberstalking.html

**DISCLAIMER: All characters and scenarios in this post are fictional .* *

Lauren is a junior at a small university. While she finds she fits in at her college, her decision to attend was based on following her high school boyfriend of two years, Dave. After two more years of dating in college, Dave decides he wants to go separate ways, and thinks it best if the two don’t see each other anymore.

Though they have no face-to-face interaction, Lauren maintains her online connections to Dave. She constantly checks on what he is doing and who he is spending time with through his Facebook posts, Instagram photos, and tweets. She often shows up at restaurants or bars he says he is attending, and “accidentally” runs into him, to force real life interaction.

A few weeks later, Lauren is browsing Dave’s Facebook and notices that he is spending a lot of time with a sophomore at their university, Emily. She immediately feels jealous and starts to monitor Emily’s social media pages as well. She even begins comparing herself with Emily to her friends, complaining about how Dave “lowered his standards.”

It’s been several months since Lauren’s break up with Dave, and while they haven’t spent time together in person, she knows the ins and outs of his life. She talks about him so much to her friends, that they’ve started to become sick of it. She’s also making herself miserable because her online monitoring isn’t letting her get over her break-up. One day, one of Lauren and Dave’s mutual friends approaches Dave and tells him Lauren has been checking up on him and his new girlfriend on social media. Dave is surprised and disturbed by the information.

What should Dave do, keeping in mind they are all still students at the same university? Is Lauren’s “online monitoring” equivalent to cyberstalking? What is the line between checking up on your old friends and stalking them? Have you ever personally engaged in cyberstalking or know of someone who has? Do you notice cyberstalking as a trend on college campuses?”

What would an ethical egoist advise Dave to do? What would an ethical relativist advise Dave to do? Explain!

Useful Resources:

Cyber-stalking laws: https://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/cyberstalking-and-cyberharassment-laws.aspx

North Carolina man sentenced for cyberstalking Maryland woman: https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/statesville-man-sentenced-prison-cyberstalking/4FESNTXSYJB4DM62DAPV4LQGIQ/

Woman sentenced for cyberstalking and 369 Fake Instagram accounts: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article235430687.html

Case #4: The Ethics of Ghosting

(Excerpted from the article: https://depauliaonline.com/32546/opinions/the-politics-of-ghosting-is-it-ever-okay/)

Ghosting- definition:

informal : the act or practice of abruptly cutting off all contact with someone (such as a former romantic partner) by no longer accepting or responding to phone calls, instant messages, etc. Romeo one minute, where’d he go the next? Ghosting is when you go poof and literally disappear out of someone’s life without a word or explanation.— Samantha Burns Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ghosting

“Julia is a 21-year-old student. She was friends with Steve for months, while hiding the fact that she had a crush on him. They randomly hooked up one night, and Steve asked her out on a date a few days later. Eager to see him again, she said yes. After no word from him for a few days, she texted him to ask if the date was still happening only to receive no response. She sent Steve another message: “cool thx for ignoring my text.” Again she was rebuffed. They’ve since seen each other out in public, and he has continued to ignore her completely. After asking Julia out, he completely ghosted her.

“Even though it’s happened to me from guys and made me feel horrible, I think it’s in a lot of people’s nature to avoid confrontation especially if you don’t have ties to someone,” Julia said. “I know I’m not the only one that thinks that because why else would people do it? It’s out of lack of the maturity to confront people.”

The ethical questions: 1. Is ghosting ethical according to an ethical egoist? Explain. 2. Is ghosting ethical according to an ethical relativist? Explain.

Resources: https://depauliaonline.com/32546/opinions/the-politics-of-ghosting-is-it-ever-okay/

https://medium.com/@emmasklar/the-ethical-cost-of-ghosting-fa7a26faef9d

https://www.scu.edu/the-big-q/ghosting/

Case #5 Losing Admission to Harvard

In early June 2017, The Harvard Crimson reported that Harvard had rescinded the admission offers of at least 10 students who had previously been admitted to Harvard’s Class of 2021.1Harvard rescinded these offers because of the students’ participation in a Facebook group devoted to sharing highly offensive memes—including memes joking about sexual assault, child abuse, and the Holocaust, and memes mocking racial or ethnic minorities.

While the Facebook group was not affiliated with Harvard, it was exclusively for members of Harvard’s Class of 2021, and was formed by students who found each other on the official Facebook group for students admitted to that class—a page managed by the university’s Admissions Office to help students connect with each other before arriving on campus. To some people, Harvard’s decision seems like an objectionable form of censorship or thought-policing. For instance, one student interviewed by The Crimson thought that as long as people aren’t directly harming or threatening someone else, they “can post whatever they want because they have the right to do that,” adding that it was just “people doing stupid stuff.”

Moreover, since this Facebook group was not officially affiliated with Harvard, this may seem like an unwarranted intrusion into students’ private social media lives. Partly due to such concerns, some colleges shy away from monitoring students’ social media. The University of California system, for instance, issued a statement that “Social media presence plays no role in our admissions process. […] Only if an incident is reported to us that purportedly violated our Principles of Community and/or Student Code of Conduct, will it be investigated in the proper channels.”3Others defend Harvard’s decision. Students are frequently reminded that their social media activity has consequences. In fact, the official Facebook group for Harvard’s Class of 2021 explicitly states, “As a reminder, Harvard College reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission under various conditions including if an admitted student engages in behavior that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character.”

In this case, many people think that the offending students simply crossed the line. “I appreciate humor, but there are so many topics that just should not be joked about,” said another student interviewed by The Crimson—“those actions really spoke about the students’ true characters.” Additionally, some people argue that Facebook groups like the one in question promote a less respectful culture, and undermine colleges’ attempts to establish safe and welcoming learning environments—especially for members of socially disadvantaged groups that are often targets of vicious memes. Thus colleges have a responsibility to place a check on their students’ social media behavior.

But some who agree that the students should not have shared these offensive memes still worry that having their admissions rescinded was too harsh a penalty. Perhaps there was a better way to make this into a learning opportunity for these students and their peers. Rescinding admissions offers, it might even be argued, could have a chilling effect on student speech, and might ultimately scare students away from discussing important issues openly and honestly in an online setting. But then again, maybe not—there is a clear difference between engaging in an open and honest debate about sensitive topics, and sharing patently offensive jokes.

How should the right to students’ free speech be weighed against colleges’ interest in promoting safe and welcoming learning environments? What would an ethical egoist say? What would an ethical relativist say?

_______________________________________________________

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/6/5/2021-offers-rescinded-memes/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/05/harvard-withdraws-10-acceptances-for-offensive-memes-in-private-chat/?utm_term=.8b3418679c83

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/06/06/531591202/harvard-rescinds-admission-of-10-students-over-obscene-facebook-message s

Source s :

Works cited: Cases 1- 3 found at The Big Q: https://www.scu.edu/character/cases/

Case #4 taken from the Article: “The Politics of Ghosting” https://depauliaonline.com/32546/opinions/the-politics-of-ghosting-is-it-ever-okay/

Case #5 https://nhseb.unc.edu/files/2018/01/SECURE-2017-2018-Regional-Cases.pdf

2

Ethical Egoism

Let’s look at this video for some background info:

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ubalt.pressbooks.pub/casesandtheories/?p=25

Narcissists are often seen as the epitome of egoism: selfish, self-serving, self-promoting people without an ounce of genuine generosity or altruism to be found.  The point is that we usually view egoistical people in an unfavorable light.  They are for themselves only with no thought of others except to use them for their own advantage.

But is the above characterization really fair to an egoist?  After all, if egoism is simply defined as self-interest, then aren’t we all egoists — at least to some degree?  Aren’t we all interested in ourselves?  If we weren’t, we’d hardly be human.  Who isn’t interested in their own happiness and all that this includes?  What’s wrong with that? A person, who believes in the theory of ethical egoism would say that nothing is wrong with that.  Let’s find out why.

What is Ethical Egoism?

Questions:  First, ethical egoism (as it true with all ethical theories) asks two primary questions:  What is good?  What is morally right?  Of course, the contrary of these questions are also important:  What is bad or evil?  And what is morally wrong?

Answers:  Ethical egoism claims that what is good is whatever an individual thinks is good for herself or himself with concern for anyone else except to the extent that that person or persons may benefit them in the short term and long run.  What is right, then, is any decision or action that brings about what a person believes is good for himself or herself only.

Clarifications:  It is important now to clarify some key features of ethical egoism, so that we will know how this “moral roadmap” or “moral compass” may apply in real-life situations.

- Ethical Subjectivism: This is a very basic (some would say childish) view of what is morally good and right:  It’s whatever one feels, believes, or thinks is right at any given moment.  In others words, whether an act is seen as right or wrong, good or bad, to an ethical subjectivist can depend on emotions at the time of the act, dogmatic beliefs (think religious fanaticism) or some very skewed logic.  For example, suppose a student, who cheated on a final exam explained his behavior by simply saying, “I felt like cheating, so I did.”  We ask him why?  He may reply, “I felt like it was the right thing for me to do the time.”  Or what if a husband cheated on his wife and simply explained his behavior by saying, “It was just an impulse, honey.  I don’t know what came over me.”  Mature people try to control impulses and emotions, and try to think a little more objectively about what is right and wrong moral conduct.  One more example:  Road rage!  Who doesn’t get upset when someone cuts them off in fast traffic?  But should we than act on our subjective emotions and try to cut them off in return?  Is that the right thing to do?

Ethical subjectivism, obviously, cannot stand alone as a viable ethical theory or personal moral compass.  First, it is too subjective!  Imagine a world in which we think it is OK for people to act only on their subjective feelings and thoughts and not on objective considerations for others or even for themselves?  Thus, ethical subjectivism is not a theory than can be universalized.  That is, we wouldn’t want everyone to follow it.  The world would be pretty chaotic if we were all strictly ethical subjectivists.  Note, this is not to say that feelings, emotions, passions,  beliefs, imagination, and logic shouldn’t play a part in our moral lives.  It’s just that subjectivism by itself is not adequate to guide us in how we ought to treat others — or even ourselves.

- Naïve Ethical Egoism: This is a version of ethical egoism that is just what it sounds like — naïve.  This view claims that we should always act in ways that we think will promote the greatest good for ourselves only.  Important Note:  Do not confuse this view with that of ethical subjectivism.  Naïve ethical egoism holds that if everyone were to follow this “moral code,” then the world would be a better place.  So notice that this theory is an improvement over subjectivism in that it becomes objective in considering the role it has for others.  So the idea is that if we all tend to our own business of trying to always do what’s best for ourselves (and not try to interfere with others, help others, etc.), then the world would be a better place.

Strengths & Weaknesses:  The strength of this moral point of view is that we have complete autonomy over our moral choices.  Afterall, we only have to think about what’s good for ourselves.  So there is certainty regarding what we want to do morally.  We don’t have to confer with others or take them into consideration.

The weaknesses are probably pretty apparent by now.  Do we always know what is good for us?  Do we always know that what we think will benefit us the most will turn out that way?  And is it always wise to ignore completely how our actions may affect others?  Could our actions hurt others while benefiting ourselves?  Yes, but then we could also be hurt as a result.  For example, in the movie, “About aBoy,” Hugh Grant plays a self-centered, hedonistic, me-only confirmed bachelor.  His only goals in life are to please himself only.  In trying to live this way, however, he ends up hurting others and eventually hurting himself more.  His life is literally meaningless in this mode of existence and morality.  (Good flick!)  I’m sure you can come up with your own examples from your life that illustrates the weaknesses of a person living as a naïve ethical egoist.

- Enlightened Ethical Egoism: This view also is what it sounds like, and it’s the view that some famous philosophers and economists (among others) have put forth as beneficial to the individual and society.  It’s a little bit like the old saying, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”  An enlightened ethical egoist is still interested in what’s best for herself only, but she is much more enlightened and imaginative in doing so than the naïve egoist.  The enlightened ethical egoist (henceforth: EEE) has her own self-interest at heart but knows that in order to help herself, she must help others as well.  This is class capitalistic economic theory.  Adam Smith argued 250 years ago that society as a whole benefits from each individual self-interest economically and morally.  Thus, if Steve Jobs had not himself been interested in fulfilling his own dreams at Apple, then we wouldn’t have the wonderful electronic personal technology we have today.   Jobs had to compete with other people to become the amazing CEO he was and to dominate the market.  What was good for Steve Jobs turned out to be good for millions of consumers.

Strengths and Weaknesses:  Many of us may be EEEs some of the time, although as you’ll see later in this course, we may also embrace other moral points of view.  As mentioned above, we can’t help but be self-interested.  The problem with EEE, however, is that it is still out to promote person’s own good only, regardless of how good one is at disguising it over the long term.  We all know people, who seem to be generous, kind, and helpful initially, but turn out to be “users” in the end.  This is an essential weakness of EEE.  Even though EEE argues that it should be universalized, that everyone should follow it and that it would be a better world if we all did, at the end of the day it is a moral compass that is still all about ourselves.  It is doubtful that a person, who is a confirmed EEE can really develop a genuinely generous spirit, kindly disposition, and thoughtful concern for others.

On the other hand, some of the more famous and well-respected philosophers in western thought (Adam Smith, David Hume, and Aristotle) have been viewed as supporters of EEE.  Aristotle basically tells us to “be all that we can be.”  In this way, we all become collectively stronger — a little like Smith’s economic theory.  Of course it’s great to be all that we can be as long as being so does not unduly hurt others.  And this is where many of us make honest mistakes for a while regarding working too hard in college and ignoring our families and friends; or striving so hard to be the best at something that we are unaware and unconcerned about the damage we may be doing to others and ourselves.  (Think sports here and immediate family.)

On the other hand, there are some people, who have mastered the art of being an EEE so well that we have a distinct name for them: sociopaths.! These people are clever, smooth, courteous, ingratiating, charming, and scheming.  And they are apt to leave a “body count” wherever they go.

Summary:  We may often act as ethical egoists, and sometimes looking out for Number One only can actually serve the best interests of others.  But as an ethical theory of moral framework, ethical egoism cannot hold up as a guide to ethical conduct in the long run.  It is not something we would want to universalize because if everyone were to act as ethical egoists, then there would obviously be universal and constant conflicts of interests abounding with no way to determine who is right or wrong.  Everyone is right, unless of course we happen to be a victim of others promoting their own good only — then they are wrong, because what they’re doing does not allow me to promote my own good only.

Strictly speaking, ethical egoism allows people to do great harm if they think it is for their own good.  It therefore assumes that everyone knows what is good for them.  This ethical theory, then, is simply unrealistic and impractical in the long run.  It is ultimately self-defeating.

- Contemplate this: what moral responsibilities do I have to myself?

- What does it mean to know yourself?

- Our love of our fellow human beings is not mere self-love.

- We should not reduce love, friendship, and compassion to self-love.

- Me-ism. Discuss

Ayn Rand interviewed by Mike Wallace:

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Do Good Deeds Exist?  (Clip from Friends)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahDxg3hc5pM&feature=related

Facebook Manners and You (Great Parody!):

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