Rational egoism
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Rational egoism is the pursuit of one's own, accurately perceived, self-interest. The term may refer either to the philosophical view that it is always in accordance with reason to pursue self-interest (a view closely related to ethical egoism) or to the behavioral postulate that people actually act in accord with their own, accurately perceived, self-interest (a particular version of psychological egoism).
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[edit] Rational egoism in the social sciences
Rational egoism is the standard behavioral postulate of neoclassical economics and of rational actor theory in political science. The economic assumption of rational egoism is often referred to in terms of the implied model of the individual, homo economicus, a term that has been used at least since Pareto (1906).
In both fields, the postulate has been criticized and defended on a range of empirical and philosophical grounds. For example, in political science, the assumption of rational egoism gives rise to the paradox of voting - given the low probability of being decisive, relative to the personal benefit from a change in the outcome, voting in elections is not rational unless the number of electors is very small.[1]
[edit] Ayn Rand's version
Ayn Rand's philosophy, Objectivism, links its rational values directly to egoism. Her book The Virtue of Selfishness explains in depth the concept of egoism.[2] The version of rational egoism defined by Rand consists of the principle that pursuing personal interest is rational, and not seeking personal interest is irrational (thereby establishing a moral system on epistemological grounds, rather than on faith).[3]
In Rand's view, there is no greater moral goal than achieving happiness. Rational egoism, however, is not an excuse to act on every whim or emotional impulse,[4] because it is irrational to expect to receive what one has not earned.[5] Happiness requires objective principles, like moral integrity and a respect for the rights of others. This exhibits itself in politics, because rational government would be the least restrictive while protecting everyone's right to life, liberty and property, and forbidding the initiation of force by anyone against anyone.[6] Note that Rand included theft and fraud, and, generally, the threat of force as force.
[edit] Criticism
Adaptive egoism is an alternative to rational egoism. It applies the principles of rational egoism with the added belief that not everything is clear-cut. It consists of the philosophy that a common good can be desirable to the individual. For example some believe that replacing rational egoism in politics and economics with adaptive egoism would construct a better social structure.[7] A general reaction to rational egoism is the belief that it allows people to do anything they want to maximize their pleasure. Defenders state that short term pleasure is not happiness, and therefore not the moral goal. Taking into account all aspects of a decision, rational egoists would do what leads to maximum happiness, both short term and long term, without overstepping other's rights. For example, someone who uses drugs achieves maximum pleasure in the moment, but a rational egoist would avoid using drugs knowing it would do harm to him in the long run.
[edit] The Prisoner's Dilemma
It is purported that the possibility exists for situations to arise where acting on selfishness will not yield the best result.[8]. An example of this situation, known as Prisoner's dilemma, is discussed in Theory of Games and Economic Behavior.[9] In this situation, two suspects in an investigation are taken into custody and split up. Each is offered a plea bargain individually, if they turn state's evidence and betray the other. If they both betray, they each serve 2 years in prison. However, if the other suspect doesn't betray, then the one betraying goes free and the other serves 10 years. If neither betrays, then they will only spend six months in prison. The dilemma can be summarized as thus;
| Prisoner B Stays Silent | Prisoner B Betrays | |
|---|---|---|
| Prisoner A Stays Silent | Both serve six months | Prisoner A serves ten years Prisoner B goes free |
| Prisoner A Betrays | Prisoner A goes free Prisoner B serves ten years |
Both serve two years |
This purports to show that circumstances may exist in which rational pursuit of self-interest does not lead to a Pareto optimal solution.
Egoists debate whether or not this can be applied to the philosophy of rational egoism, because if both prisoners were able to make their decision based on all the information, they would both decide to remain silent and serve six months.[10] Nor does the problem take into account any kind of operative context, such as the issue of truth, guilt or innocence, or the specific system of law under which the suspects are being charged- all of which would affect a rational man's decision. For instance, if a suspect is guilty and rats out his partner in order to avoid jail sentence, he would be evading the fact that he deserves punishment- he is therefore attempting to act in contradiction to the facts of reality, and thus to his own nature, a course which is not in anyone's self-interest.
In addition to such objections as those above, the argument can also be made that this theory does not refute, but rather supports the moral system of rational egoism. Ayn Rand's Objectivism holds that the initiation of physical force is evil precisely because it denies the victim of the freedom to act in accordance with his self-interest. When facing the threat of force one's options are limited to choosing the "lesser of two losses". This is the foundation of criminal justice- that a criminal has forfeited his rights to unabridged self-interest, by acting against the rights of others. The Prisoner Dilemma, therefore proves not to be a dilemma when approached with rationality, which is exactly what rational self-interest demands.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ D. Mueller, Public Choice II. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1989
- ^ Rand, Ayn. The Virtue of Selfishness, New American Library, 1964.
- ^ Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged, New American Library, 1957.
- ^ What is Objectivism?, http://www.objectivistcenter.org/cth-32-408-FAQ_is_Objectivism.aspx
- ^ Rand, Ayn. The Virtue of Selfishness, New American Library, 1964.
- ^ Rand, Ayn. Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, New American Library, 1967
- ^ Rational Egoism Versus Adaptive Egoism as Fundamental Postulate for a Descriptive Theory of Human Behavior, http://www.springerlink.com/content/j260076947v55404
- ^ Egoism, http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/egoism.htm#SH2a
- ^ Evolutionary Game Theory, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/game-evolutionary
- ^ Egoism, http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/egoism.htm#SH2a
