The Implications of Psychological Egoism
Psychological egoism claims that each person has but one ultimate aim: not their
own own welfare but what they think is their own welfare. Altruists are
people who think of others not themselves.
If psychological egoism is true, then altruists are all hypocrites and liars.
If you want to call them deluded then fine. God supposedly put us here to
think of others but if we cannot do that it follows God is a delusion too or
just a mask for human hypocrisy.
If psychological egoism is true, then we must live as atheists even if there is
a God. Each one is her or his own god. We should admit we are our own gods
instead of pretending that the god is a being outside ourselves! God made each
one of us to put himself or herself first.
If psychological egoism is true, then the God you worship is your own creation.
By worshipping him you are being an egoist and worshipping yourself!
Even if there is a God then there is no reason for human suffering. He has the
power to stop it but yet he lets it happen. When we just satisfy our desire to
act and when this is just about the pleasure we have in doing the act he should
have given us better desires. If somebody doesn’t help the poor then its God’s
fault. To worship God would be egotistical and evil and vile.
Altruism by default is the selfless motivation to act not the results.
Imagine there was a paedophile who kidnapped a child and molested her. He killed
her not for his sake but for his family because he knew they couldn’t cope if he
went to jail. And the shame would kill his mother. Altruists consider him to be
an egotist even when they consider his motive for killing her. They
condemn him for what he did regardless of how sincere his motives are. The
hypothetical is good for identifying what is going on inside them and what their
deepest thoughts are. This is clear proof that altruists are confused or
untruthful. An altruist who only cares about motives when the results suit
her is a liar. And he is no better than a murderer for the person who lets
his life be taken if it means exposing a corrupt bank is praised and put forward
as the zenith of altruism. Altruism does ask you to die for that for the
reasoning is that it is not you killing you but the other people so your death
is not your responsibility. Altruism is incoherent which is a reason why
we can argue that there is no evidence that anybody truly is altruistic.
If psychological egoism is true, then religion has no right to indoctrinate
people and is therefore to blame for all the wars and bloodshed it has caused
but denies responsibility for. An unnecessary evil, such as religion, that
condemns religious war between its members and other faiths is still to blame
for if it disbanded the members wouldn’t have religion to fight about. There is
enough to start wars without religion. Religion would be an unnecessary evil for
it is based on the idea that selflessness is the duty for us all.
If psychological egoism is true then it is true whether we know it or not. It
would be stupid to fear it or to fear confessing that it is true for we have all
been living out psychological egoism all along!
Christianity is the greatest block to truth in the world. It is the main force
thwarting the realisation that psychological egoism is true. However, the
Reformed Churches that derive from the theology of John Calvin hold that human
nature is only interested in good not for good itself but for what it can get
out of it. It says God likes nothing we do because we use good for our selfish
ends instead of doing good because it is good and because it is the will of God.
This doctrine is called total depravity, it does not say we outwardly will
behave as badly as we can but it says that our good works are dross for they are
laden with hypocrisy and deceit. This doctrine was taught by St Paul in the
Bible and by St Augustine. If people can believe they are egotists by nature
then why do psychological egoists have to take such abuse for a harmless
psychological position?
If you are an altruist then you should not care if a person is altruistic or
egoistic as long as he or she does all the good he or she can do. The altruists
make a big deal of it which shows how selfish they actually are. It is selfish
to fuss over nothing. It is arrogant. It isn't egoistic but egotistic. If you
are an egoist you will want to see all that good done. But you will not want a
person to be altruistic for altruism diminishes happiness.
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