Descriptive Ethics

The study of people's moral beliefs is known as descriptive ethics.

•    It necessitates empirical research. It provides us with a general pattern or way of life of people in various communities. 

 

•    The history and evolution of ethics are studied in descriptive ethics. It keeps track of taboos, customs, and conventions.

 

•    Descriptive ethics looks into people's ethical ideals or the actions that are prohibited in a society. Its goal is to learn about people's values, which actions are right and wrong, and which moral agent characteristics are virtuous. 

 

•    Descriptive ethics seeks to explain moral agents' actual choices in practice. It looks into the ethical codes followed by various groups. It is an empirical study of people's moral.

•    As the name implies, consequentialialism bases morality on the consequences of human actions rather than the actions themselves, emphasizing the rightness of the 'end' rather than the morality of the 'means' employed. 

 

•    According to consequentialialism, an act's right or wrongness is determined by its consequences, and the more positive consequences produced, the better the act.

 

•    Consequentialism is a group of normative ethical theories that hold that the consequences of one's actions are the ultimate basis for any judgement about the rightness or wrongness of one's actions.

 

•    As a result, a morally right act, from a consequentialist perspective, is one that will result in a good outcome, or consequence.

 

•    Consequentialism is primarily non-prescriptive, which means that the moral worth of an action is determined by its potential consequences rather than by whether or not it adheres to a set of written edicts or laws. One example would be lying under oath under threat of government punishment to save the life of an innocent person, despite the fact that lying under oath is illegal. 

 

1.    Moral egoism 

2.    Altruism in an ethical sense 

3.    Utilitarianism is a philosophy that believes in the maximization of utility.

 

•    The term "egoism" comes from the Latin word "ego," which means "I" in English. 

 

•    According to this viewpoint, an action is morally right if the consequences are more favorable than unfavorable only to the agent performing the action.

 

•    There are two types of egoism: descriptive and normative.

 

1.    The descriptive (or positive) variant regards egoism as a true account of human affairs. That is to say, people are driven by their own desires and interests, and they cannot be described in any other way. 

 

2.    The normative variant proposes that people should be motivated in this way regardless of their current motivation.

 

•    "Psychological egoism" is the name given to the descriptive egoist's theory. Human nature is entirely self-centered and self-motivated, according to psychological egoism.

 

•    Examples of this explanation of human nature can be found in writings by British Victorian historian Macaulay and British Reformation political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, which predate the theory's formation. To the question, “What proposition is there respecting human nature which is absolutely and universally true?” Macaulay, replies, “We know of only one . . . that men always act from self-interest.”

 

•    Psychological egoism asserts, in its most extreme form, that people always act in their own interests and cannot help but act in their own interests, even if they try to disguise their motivation by referring to helping others or doing their duty.

 

•    Psychological egoism, according to critics, renders ethics useless. However, this charge presupposes that ethical behavior is always other-centered, which opponents would have to prove first. 

 

•    Opponents of psychological egoism may also use counterfactual evidence to criticize it— surely, they argue, there is a plethora of evidence supporting altruistic or duty-bound actions that cannot be said to engage the agent's self-interest?

 

•    What, however, qualifies as apparent counterfactual evidence by opponents becomes a complicated and contentious issue? This is because, in response to their critics, psychological egoists may try to shift the focus away from outward appearances and toward the ultimate motivations for acting benevolently toward others; for example, they may claim that seemingly altruistic behavior (giving a stranger money) is inevitably motivated by self-interest. For example, if a person does not help a stranger, he or she may feel guilty or look bad in front of a group of peers.

 

•    The validity of psychological egoism hinges on the examination and analysis of moral motivation at this point. However, because motivation is inherently private and inaccessible to others (an agent could be lying to herself or others about the original motive), the theory shifts from a theoretical description of human nature—one that can be empirically verified—to an assumption about the inner workings of human nature: psychological egoism moves beyond the possibility of empirical verification and becomes an assumption about the inner workings of human nature.

 

•    A closed theory is one that is non-verifiable and non-falsifiable, and rejects competing theories on its own terms. If psychological egoism is reduced to a belief about human nature and hidden motives, it follows that a competing theory of human motivation, such as psychological altruism, is equally valid.

 

•    The second type of egoism is normative, implying that the agent should priorities self-interest over other considerations. 

 

•    "Ethics has to recognize the truth, recognized in unethical thought, that egoism comes before altruism," Herbert Spencer said. 

 

•    The first requisites to universal welfare are the acts required for continued self-preservation, including the enjoyment of benefits obtained through such arts. 

 

•    Unless each takes proper care of himself, his care for all others comes to an end with death, and if each dies in this way, there are no others to care for."

 

•    He was reiterating a long tradition of the importance of self-centered behavior that can be traced all the way back to Aristotle’s theory. According to Aristotle's theory, a man must first befriend himself before he can befriend others. 

 

•    The general theory of normative egoism does not attempt to directly describe human nature, but rather asserts how people should act. It is divided into two types: rational egoism and ethical egoism.

 

•    According to rational egoism, promoting one's own interests is always in accordance with reason. Ayn Rand, whose book The Virtue of Selfishness outlines the logic and appeal of the theory, is the greatest and most provocative proponent of rational egoism.

 

•    Rand contends that, first, selfishness, properly defined, rejects the sacrificial ethics of the West's Judaic-Christian heritage on the grounds that it is proper for man to live his own life; and, second, selfishness is a proper virtue to pursue. However, she rejects irrationally acting individuals' "selfless selfishness": "the actor must always be the beneficiary of his action, and that man must act for his own rational self-interest." Being ethically selfish thus necessitates a commitment to logic rather than emotional whims and instincts.

 

•    Not only is it rational to pursue one's own interests, but it is also irrational not to pursue them, according to Rand's strong version of rational egoism. Some critics of rational egoism argue that reason dictates that one's interests should not guide one's behavior.

 

•    Ethical egoism is the normative theory that promotes one's own well is moral. 

 

•    It is always moral to promote one's own good, and it is never moral not to promote it, according to the strong version. 

 

•    The normative ethical position of ethical egoism is that moral agents should act in their own self-interest. It is not to be confused with psychological egoism, which holds that people can only act in their own best interests.

 

•    Normative theories (such as ethical egoism) propose how people should behave, whereas psychological egoism describes how people actually behave (i.e. in self-interest) (i.e. promotion of self-interest is the best ethical conduct).

 

•    It must be distinguished from rational egoism; whereas rational egoism asserts that acting in one's own self-interest is rational and logical, ethical egoism asserts that acting in one's own self-interest is moral or good.

 

•    One might argue that this is not what we mean by ethics; rather, ethics should prevent us from doing what we want and force us to work for the greater good of society.

 

•    To these criticisms, an ethical egoist might respond by claiming that their position does not state that it is ethical to do whatever you want, but rather that it is ethical to do what will benefit you the most in the long run. And there's a case to be made that doing things like helping others and being kind will benefit you more in the long run than doing whatever you want. As a result, what you should do takes precedence over what you can do.

 

•    It's critical at this point to distinguish between self-interest and selfishness. The pursuit of self-interest entails selecting a course of action that will provide the decision maker with the greatest net benefit. Selfishness is defined as a disregard for the worth of others. It refers to someone who is unconcerned about other people's feelings or who is unconcerned about fairness.

 

•    Conditional egoism is the last type of ethical egoism. This is the idea that egoism is morally right or acceptable if it leads to morally acceptable outcomes. For example, self-interested behavior can be accepted and applauded if it leads to the betterment of society as a whole; the ultimate test is whether society is improved as a result, not whether self-interested behavior is accepted and applauded. 

 

•    Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations," in which Smith outlines the public benefits resulting from self-interested behavior, is a famous example of this type of thinking. “We expect our dinner not from the butcher's, brewers, or baker's benevolence, but from their regard for their own interest,” Smith writes.

 

•    We address ourselves to their self-love rather than their humanity, and we never speak to them about our own needs but about their advantages.”

 

•    As Smith admits, if egoistic behavior is harmful to society, it should be stopped. As a result, the theory of conditional egoism is predicated on a higher moral goal, such as an action being in the public interest.

 

•    The serious problem that conditional egoists face is determining what standard should be used to set egoism's limits. To put it another way, who or what is to define the public good? If a person is appointed as the great public arbitrator, it is unclear whether or not he or she is representing or advocating for an impartial standard of the good rather than for his or her own personal gain. If the limit is set by an objective standard that can be determined by any reasonable person, the philosopher should explain the nature of that standard.