Philosophy concerning self-regarding motivations or behaviour
This article is about the philosophy of self-regarding motivations or behaviour. It is not to be confused with Egotism or Egocentrism.
"Egoist" redirects here. For other uses, see Egoist (disambiguation).
For the Australian band, see Egoism (band).
Part of a series on
Individualism
Principles
Autonomy
Civil liberties
Do it yourself
Eremitism
Free love
Freethought
Human rights
Individual
Individual rights
Individual reclamation
Individuation
Laissez-faire
Libertine
Liberty
Methodological individualism
Negative liberty
Open border
Personal property
Positive liberty
Private property
Self-actualization
Self-ownership
Self-sufficiency
Subjectivity
Philosophers
Antiphon
Aristippus
Camus
Diogenes
Emerson
Godwin
Goldman
Hayek
Hess
Hipparchia
Igualada
Ingersoll
Jefferson
Jung
Laozi
Locke
Mandeville
Marsden
Mencken
Mill
Mises
Montaigne
Nietzsche
Nozick
Onfray
Popper
Quelle
Rand
Rothbard
Sade
Schopenhauer
Smith
Spencer
Spooner
Stirner
Thoreau
Tucker
Voltaire
Warren
Wilde
Yang
Ideologies
Autarchism
Anarchism
Individualist anarchism
Anarcho-capitalism
Egoist anarchism
Left-wing market anarchism
Social anarchism
Egoism
Ethical egoism
Rational egoism
Existentialism
Hedonism
Humanism
Individualist feminism
Equity feminism
Liberal feminism
Liberalism
Classical liberalism
Libertarianism
Left-libertarianism
Libertarian socialism
Right-libertarianism
Minarchism
Mutualism
Objectivism
Subjectivism
Voluntaryism
Principal concerns
Anti-individualism
Authoritarianism
Collectivism
Conformity
Dogmatism
Group rights
Herd mentality
Indoctrination
Mass society
Mobbing
Social engineering
Statism
Tyranny
Tyranny of the majority
Theocracy
Totalitarianism
v
t
e
Egoism is a philosophy concerned with the role of the self, or ego, as the motivation and goal of one's own action. Different theories of egoism encompass a range of disparate ideas and can generally be categorized into descriptive or normative forms.[1][2] That is, they may be interested in either describing that people do act in self-interest or prescribing that they should. Other definitions of egoism may instead emphasise action according to one's will rather than one's self-interest, and furthermore posit that this is a truer sense of egoism.[3]
The New Catholic Encyclopedia states of egoism that it "incorporates in itself certain basic truths: it is natural for man to love himself; he should moreover do so, since each one is ultimately responsible for himself; pleasure, the development of one's potentialities, and the acquisition of power are normally desirable."[4] The moral censure of self-interest is a common subject of critique in egoist philosophy, with such judgments being examined as means of control and the result of power relations. Egoism may also reject that insight into one's internal motivation can arrive extrinsically, such as from psychology or sociology,[1] though, for example, this is not present in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.
^ abMoseley, Alexander. "Egoism". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
^Shaver, Robert (2021). "Egoism". In Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
^Scanlan, James P. (1999). "The Case against Rational Egoism in Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground". Journal of the History of Ideas. 60 (3). University of Pennsylvania Press: 549–567. doi:10.2307/3654018. JSTOR 3654018.
^Dalcourt, G. J. "Egoism". New Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 11, 2020 – via Encyclopedia.com.
Egoism is a philosophy concerned with the role of the self, or ego, as the motivation and goal of one's own action. Different theories of egoism encompass...
philosophy, ethical egoism is the normative position that moral agents ought to act in their own self-interest. It differs from psychological egoism, which claims...
Rational egoism (also called rational selfishness) is the principle that an action is rational if and only if it maximizes one's self-interest. As such...
Egoist anarchism or anarcho-egoism, often shortened as simply egoism, is a school of anarchist thought that originated in the philosophy of Max Stirner...
Psychological egoism is the view that humans are always motivated by self-interest and selfishness, even in what seem to be acts of altruism. It claims...
instead an amoral (although importantly not inherently immoral or antisocial) egoism. It is considered a major influence on the development of anarchism, existentialism...
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourse characterized by skepticism towards scientific rationalism and the concept of objective reality...
from psychological egoism, which claims that people do only act in their self-interest. Ethical egoism also differs from rational egoism which holds merely...
broadly understood as containing traits of both psychological egoism and rational egoism. Unlike the self-interest described by Ayn Rand, Stirner did not...
Rule egoism is the doctrine under which an individual evaluates the optimal set of rules according to whether conformity to those rules bring the most...
French philosopher Auguste Comte in French, as altruisme, for an antonym of egoism. He derived it from the Italian altrui, which in turn was derived from Latin...
reason and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism as opposed to altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force...
Philosophy of Egoism in the May 1890 to September 1891 in issues of the publication Egoism. James L. Walker published the work The Philosophy of Egoism in which...
Rule consequentialism exists in the forms of rule utilitarianism and rule egoism. Various theorists are split as to whether the rules are the only determinant...
rather than for oneself – and from egoism, the constant pursuit of one's self-interest. Various forms of "empirical egoism" have been considered consistent...
of the concept of egoism for an understanding of Modernism, with criticism on the ideology of egomania. Nordau distinguished egoism from the egomania...
Brahman Demiurge Divine simplicity Egoism Holy Spirit Misotheism Pandeism Personal god Process theology Supreme Being Unmoved mover God in Abrahamic religions...
purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness (see rational egoism), that the only social system consistent with this morality is one that...
Narcissism is a self–centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense...
pleasure and avoiding pain. This is usually understood in combination with egoism, i.e. that each person only aims at their happiness. For example, Thomas...
Brahman Demiurge Divine simplicity Egoism Holy Spirit Misotheism Pandeism Personal god Process theology Supreme Being Unmoved mover God in Abrahamic religions...
his might over it." According to Wendy McElroy: In adopting Stirnerite egoism (1886), Tucker rejected natural rights which had long been considered the...
Global Information