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Is Ethical Egoism Morally Relevant?

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Ethical egoism is the moral code by which the most individualistic, uncaring people must be living their lives. Egoism is based on the idea of “me”, of “I”, and how anything or anyone that can benefit that central idea deserves to be squeezed dry of any valuable qualities. As explained by Stanford Encyclopedia, “[what] brings the highest payoff to me is not necessarily what brings the highest payoff to those helped”. This idea of give and take is purely for gain, according to whoever believes or practices egoism. If there’s no benefit to the self, why would they bother even participating in such an event? The short answer: they wouldn’t. Motivation for or motivation towards is the sole backbone of egoism- every egoist has an agenda, and whether or not others believe that they’re acting towards the best of intentions does not matter one bit to them; they act in accordance with what they believe is right, according to how it benefits themselves. …show more content…

Someone doesn’t want to show up to a meeting because it’s of no self-interest to them? Well, now the rest of the people in the meeting have to take on more work, lose potential ideas from the absence, and now they dislike the absentee a little more for their absence. Egoism is selfish to its core. It’s inconsiderate, deliberate, and maintains a “take no prisoners” mentality that can become like a cancer when put into a social context; it can make the best of workers reconsider what their job means in terms of their own career and happiness. When people start “looking out for number one”, they lose a part of their empathetic abilities and become more

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