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woman, who had a variety of minor complaints. The doctor quickly determined
that the woman was suffering from malnutrition. He knew that she worked a variety
of menial jobs, but earned very little money to support herself or her children.
After spending no more than five minutes with her, and doing nothing for her, the
doctor told her the charge would be $25. The woman had only $12 to her name,
so the doctor took the $12 as payment, leaving the woman with no money to buy
food. There were no negative consequences to the doctor as a result of his action.
According to the theory of ethical egoism, the doctor did the right thing: he was
only supposed to take his own interest into account, and receiving $12 from the
woman was to his advantage. This answer, however, is incorrect; what the doctor
did was morally reprehensible.
4.
Other moral principles are superior to the principle of self-interest.
Suppose you have the opportunity to save a drowning person at the cost of getting
one of your shirtsleeves wet [4]. According to the theory of ethical egoism, saving
a life is the right thing to do if and only if that action will provide you with the
maximum benefit. Possible benefits from saving a drowning person include earning
that person's undying gratitude and gaining favorable publicity. But isn't this a
backward and degrading way of evaluating the action? Doesn't it make a lot more
sense to consider the action in light of the value of a human life? If you have
the opportunity to save a human life with no signficant negative consequences
to yourself, you should do it, even if your action is not rewarded. This example
demonstrates that the principle of preserving life is superior to the principle of self-
interest.
5.
People who take the good of others into account live happier lives.
In the Framingham Heart Study, which followed 5,000 individuals over a 20-year
period, scientists discovered that happiness spreads through close relationships with
family members, friends, and neighbors [15]. In order to create and maintain close
relationships with other people, it is necessary to consider what is good for them.
Ethical egoism does not respect the ethical point of view: it does not recognize that
in order to reap the benefits of living in community, individuals must consider the good
of other community members. For this reason we reject ethical egoism as a workable
ethical theory.
Kantianism is the name given to the ethical theory of the German philosopher Immanuel
Kant (1724-1804). Kant spent his entire life in or near Konigsberg in East Prussia,
where he was a professor at the university. Kant believed that people's actions ought
to be guided by moral laws, and that these moral laws were universal. He held that in
order to apply to all rational beings, any supreme principle of morality must itself be
based on reason. While many of the moral laws Kant describes can also be found in the
Bible, Kant's methodology allows these laws to be derived through a reasoning process.
