Are we as human beings always driven by psychological
egoism? In order to answer this question we must first understand what
psychological egoism is. Psychological egoism is a term used to describe the
idea that people are only interested in what benefits them as an individual
(Section 12-3b). This idea was brought forth by Jeremy Bentham, who thought
this was the natural way for human beings to behave (Section 12-3b). Bentham
thought that if a person’s selfishness was used as a positive force for the
betterment of a society, a truly better world would be produced.
I feel Bentham was a
bit quick in assuming that people are always out to benefit themselves. I
believe that there is more that goes in to a person’s decision making process
than simply if it benefits them or not. I do not believe that people are so
primal that we innately seek out only the things that please us and refrain
from those things that cause us pain. In a general sense, we do consider our
own happiness an ultimate goal in life; however, that is not to say that we
consider nothing else but achieving our own happiness.
As human beings we are faced daily with decisions that
affect our own welfare and often weigh the pros and cons of each answer to the
situation before making the decision. For example, the following photo went
viral during the debates of whether or not to raise the minimum wage to fifteen
dollars per hour.
Assuming we were to take this photo at face value, if the
minimum wage were raised to fifteen dollars per hour and assuming no raise
occurred for people working as EMT’s, why would anyone want to work as an EMT?
What benefit would it give them? Why work long, physically demanding hours for
fifteen dollars an hour in an extremely risky job environment when you can make
the same working in a fast food restaurant? If we are to believe that human
beings are always out to benefit only themselves, in this scenario we would be
left with no EMT’s. Thankfully however, people do not always consider only
their own personal welfare but also the welfare of others, which is why we have
people willing to risk their own safety and well-being in order to help others.
In this example, we can clearly see that people are not
always driven by psychological egoism, as Bentham believed. Instead there is
something else inside of most of us that drives us to take into consideration
the needs of other people as well as our own. Without this additional driving
force, we would live in a very different world. A world where everyone was only
interested in doing whatever was most beneficial to them, no matter what the cost to
others. Thankfully, this alternative driving force to psychological egoism
balances us and prevents us from slipping into what would otherwise be a
potentially cruel and dark world rather than the ideal world Bentham hoped to create.
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