Friedrich Nietzsche's and Ayn Rand's Views on Egoism

Egoism in philosophical ethics is having a certain motivation or undertaking an activity that is best suited for you but helps the other person as well, therefore it doesn't make you look selfish; however, it actually is. Egoism is a normative perspective theory, and it is cleared up by two versions. Version one is individual ethical egoism, this portrays having your self-interest only and a couple of others but mostly just focusing on you. This is why it’s called an individual. Version two is universal egoism, meaning all. This is where everybody should pay special mind to their own advantage, however, there are other individuals on the planet thus, you need to imagine that it benefits them excessively yet just on the off chance that it benefits you more. At the end of the day, it's discussing the popular expression, 'do something for me and I'll return the favor.'

One of countless philosophers that first introduced ethical egoism was, Henry Sidgwick. The book, ‘Methods of Ethics’ was one that Henry composed and many others. Henry uncovered three methods of ethics. The first one is egoism; the following was intuitionism and third utilitarianism. He also mentioned how intuition was additionally constructed on morality.

Ayn Rand is likewise a standout amongst the most persuasive journalists and thinkers. Ayn believed egoism was good, and altruism was sinful. According to Ayn altruism was, “the view that self-sacrifice is the moral ideal”. She argues that “the ultimate moral value, for each human individual, is his or her own well-being”. For this purpose, Rand believes that selfishness is a virtue. She also supposed ethical egoism was moral philosophy, and it’s never going away. For instance, it is our leverage to keep promises or others may break it, the same goes for lying and being hurtful to others. This fails as a moral theory according to other philosophers because we should care about the interests of others as their needs are the same as us. Why would it be any different?

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Friedrich Nietzsche is another example. Friedrich and Rand both approve on altruism that it is bad, and Rand learned a great amount from Nietzsche. They, however, conflicted a lot about what the self is. Both pondered about what its main benefits are, whether self-interests are shared, and whether if it was the highest moral value. Nietzsche had two proposals that contradicted itself with egoism. The first one is, “egoism is universal and natural since all organisms have the will to power, but not all are equal, so altruism is the power strategy pursued by the weak to achieve their egoism. Next is, egoism which is not universal since some organisms are physiologically sick beyond repair; this causes a will to nothingness and a consequent moral nihilism, so altruism is the will to the nothingness of the weak” (Hicks, 289).

There are relatively a lot of differences between various ‘egoism’. There are three usages, that was quickly referenced above. The individual form is where everyone should undertake in my self-interest. The personal form is, I should act in my self-interest, and I don't care what others do. Universal form is the last one, which states all human beings should constantly act in their own self-interest. This makes it a normative theory because this makes a claim about what one should do, rather than describes what one does do. It’s imperative to comment that neither type is ‘grander’ in any way to the others. Each has a different single mindedness and well suited to its aim. Nevertheless, there have been many opposition and heavy influences for this moral. To name a few, it has no real clarifications when it comes to a problem involving conflicts of interest, and it also goes alongside the principle of equality. Inconsistency as well happens, and it is unclear whose self-interest should be fulfilled. Nonetheless, if an action is done to benefit oneself, it is morally correct, however, if an action does not benefit your self-interest it is not morally correct. The finest pursuit of own selfish interests actually produces the best overall outcome for everyone. This is the thing that Ayn Rand recognizes the “value of individual life” that it is the definitive value for each individual. Furthermore, ethical egoism can't effectively clarify why the individual self is superior to other people. While it stands, two reasons that some actions derived from self-interest are moral, ethical egoism does not effectively demonstrate that an action is moral because it is self-interested. Therefore, ethical egoism fails as a moral theory. “Egoists came from the Greek, ‘ego’ for ‘self’ or ‘I’” (Hicks, 254).

I consider myself not an egoist because when I think about an egoist, they are frequently described as selfish, untrustworthy, and a lot of other nasty things. This is, in fact, a stereotype. Others would acknowledge that being interested in your own personal good is simply defining selfishness. Having an understanding of the different types of egoism, one should know it is actually an ethical view of self-interest. I want to help others for the benefit of the world. The moral vain person isn't worried about expanding the benefit of the general population in general, which is the essential meaning of utilitarianism. A person's actions must not create well for others, only for themselves. Egoists have a strong value of what makes an action good which is that it is good for them. I wouldn't want to help people as a career and be passionate about others and their emotions. Egoists make moral decisions, too. A genuine case of an extraordinary prideful person would be Adolf Hitler, and I'm nowhere like him. I don't assume I'm superior to other people or prevalent. Not with standing, I think everyone is an egoist in today's world. Ethical egoism advocates focusing on one's self-interests and benefits all of society because society runs more efficiently with it. Social media run on me and mine, you have to express your opinion on everything. Another case would be when people try to impress or feel confident about their money, beauty, power, or knowledge then it means you are an egoist. I may not be an egoist, but I have done egoist things in the past. In the event that I owe cash to a friend and choose to pay the companion back, it's not on the grounds that I need to but rather in light of the fact that it's to my greatest advantage to pay my friend back along these lines, I don't lose them. Another would be inviting someone to a movie or purchasing something that they want to see or buy because I don’t want to go alone, I would be thinking of my own personal matters first. Making a promise is one that I used to do a lot. Even if I make a promise to you, I have no obligation to you to keep the promise. I may have a duty to keep the promise, but it would only be a duty to myself. Egoists might act very humbly and focus on others since it's to their greatest advantage to make individuals like them and need to treat them well. If you prefer to live as an ethical egoist, you will most likely miss out on the best experiences in life. Examples include the different forms of love, friendship, and wonder, that end all origins of self and self-interest. That’s why I’ve changed the way I was, some people can’t help it, but it’s also a choice.