Self-Interest: Volume 14, Part 1

These essays examine the nature of self-interest and the relationship between rationality and morality.

Ellen Frankel Paul (Edited by), Fred D. Miller, Jr (Edited by), Jeffrey Paul (Edited by)

9780521598927, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 May 1997

336 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.5 kg

'[T]he good man should be a lover of self.' Aristotle wrote. 'For he will both himself profit by doing noble acts, and will benefit his fellows … '. Yet in much of contemporary moral philosophy, concern for one's own interests is considered a non-moral issue, while concern for the interests of others is paradigmatically moral. Indeed, a central issue in ethical theory involves the proper balance to be struck between prudence and morality, between the pursuit of one's own good and the pursuit of the good of others. When deliberating over what action to take, should one weigh one's own interests more heavily than those of others? Or is it possible to accommodate both self-interest and regard for others, to show that we have self-regarding reasons for helping others? The twelve essays in this volume - written from a range of perspectives - address these questions and examine related issues.

1. Beyond self and other Kelly Rogers
2. The wisdom of the egoist: the moral and political implications of valuating the self Jean Hampton
3. Reasonable self-interest Thomas E. Hill Jr
4. Gyges' Choice: overridingness and the Unity of Reason David Copp
5. Self-Interest: What's in It for Me? David Schmidtz
6. Self-Love and Altruism David O. Brink
7. Self-Interest and Self-Concern Stephen Darwall
8. Who is rational economic man? Jennifer Roback Morse
9. Happiness and meaning: two aspects of the good life Susan Wolf
10. Self-Interest and virtue Neera K. Badhwar
11. The virtue in self-interest Michael Slote
12. Self-interest, altruism, and virtue Thomas Hurka.

Subject Areas: Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]