Editing Egoism (section)

== Overview ==

The term egoism is derived from the [[French language|French]] {{wikt-lang|fr|égoïsme}}, from the [[Latin]] {{wikt-lang|la|ego}} (first person singular personal pronoun; "I") with the French {{wikt-lang|fr|-ïsme}} ("[[-ism]]").

=== Descriptive theories ===
The descriptive variants of egoism are concerned with self-regard as a factual description of human motivation and, in its furthest application, that all human motivation stems from the desires and interest of the ego.<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":2" /> In these theories, action which is self-regarding may be simply termed ''egoistic''.<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=egoistic |dictionary=American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |edition=5th |year=2011 |access-date=August 18, 2020 |via=[[Dictionary.com]] |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/egoistic}}</ref>

The position that people ''tend'' to act in their own self-interest is called default egoism,<ref name=":15">{{cite web |title=Portraits of Egoism in Classic Cinema III: Nietzschean Portrayals |first=Gary |last=Jason |year=2015 |url=https://www.academia.edu/24443366}}</ref> whereas [[psychological egoism]] is the position that ''all'' motivations are rooted in an ultimately self-serving [[psyche (psychology)|psyche]]. That is, in its strong form, that even seemingly [[altruist]]ic actions are only disguised as such and are always self-serving. Its weaker form instead holds that, even if altruistic motivation is possible, the willed action necessarily becomes egoistic in serving one's own [[will (philosophy)|will]].<ref name=":2" /> In contrast to this and philosophical egoism, biological egoism (also called evolutionary egoism) describes motivations rooted solely in reproductive self-interest (i.e. [[reproductive fitness]]).<ref>{{cite journal |title=Philosophical Egoism: Its Nature and Limitations |first=Hans Bernhard |last=Schmid |journal=[[Economics and Philosophy]] |year=2010 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=217–240 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |doi=10.1017/S0266267110000209 |s2cid=145330319 |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/291075/files/S0266267110000209.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{cite journal |title=Ontogeny and Social Dominance: A Developmental View of Human Power Patterns |first=Patricia H. |last=Hawley |s2cid=6641843 |journal=[[Evolutionary Psychology (journal)|Evolutionary Psychology]] |year=2014 |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=318–42 |doi=10.1177/147470491401200204 |pmid=25299882|hdl=2346/93761 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Furthermore, [[selfish gene theory]] holds that it is the self-interest of [[Nucleic acid sequence|genetic information]] that conditions human behaviour.<ref name=":14" />

=== Normative theories ===
Theories which hold egoism to be normative stipulate that the ego ought to promote its own interests above other values. Where this ought is held to be a pragmatic judgment it is termed [[rational egoism]] and where it is held to be a moral judgment it is termed [[ethical egoism]].<ref name=":1" /> The ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'' states that "ethical egoism might also apply to things other than acts, such as rules or character traits" but that such variants are uncommon.<ref name=":2" /> Furthermore, conditional egoism is a [[consequentialist]] form of ethical egoism which holds that egoism is morally right if it leads to morally acceptable ends.<ref name=":1" /> John F. Welsh, in his work ''Max Stirner's Dialectical Egoism: A New Interpretation'', coins the term [[dialectical egoism]] to describe an interpretation of the egoist [[philosophy of Max Stirner]] as being fundamentally [[dialectic]]al.<ref name=":13">{{cite book |title=Max Stirner's Dialectical Egoism: a New Interpretation |first=John F. |last=Welsh |year=2010 |publisher=[[Lexington Books]]}}</ref>{{npsn|date=August 2020}}

Normative egoism, as in the case of Stirner, need not reject that some modes of behavior are to be valued above others—such as Stirner's affirmation that non-restriction and autonomy are to be most highly valued.<ref name=":10">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Max Stirner |encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |first=David |last=Leopold |year=2019 |editor-first=Edward N. |editor-last=Zalta |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/max-stirner/ |publisher=[[Stanford University]]}}</ref> Contrary theories, however, may just as easily favour egoistic domination of others.<ref name=":7" />