Editing Psychological egoism (section)

== Debate ==
Psychological egoism is controversial.  Proponents cite evidence from introspection: reflection on one's own actions may reveal their motives and intended results to be based on self-interest. Psychological hedonists have found through numerous observations of natural human behavior that behavior can be manipulated through reward and punishment, both of which have direct effects of pain and pleasure.<ref>See Bentham 1789. [[Thomas Hobbes]] is also often read as a psychological egoist, but this is fairly controversial, especially in respect of whether or not he used it to ground his moral theory.  See Gert (1967) and Lloyd & Sreedhar (2008).</ref> Also, the work of some social scientists has [[empirical]]ly supported this theory.<ref>Slote, M. A. (1964). "An Empirical Basis for Psychological Egoism," ''Journal of Philosophy'' 61: 530-537</ref> Further, they claim psychological egoism posits a theory that is a more [[Occam's razor|parsimonious]] explanation than competing theories.<ref name="Sober, E., & Wilson, D. S. 1999">Sober, E., & Wilson, D. S. (1999)</ref>

Opponents have argued that psychological egoism is not more parsimonious than other theories.  For example, a theory that claims altruism occurs for the sake of altruism explains altruism with less complexity than the egoistic approach. The psychological egoist asserts humans act altruistically for selfish reasons even when cost of the altruistic action is far outweighed by the reward of acting selfishly because altruism is performed to fulfill the desire of a person to act altruistically.<ref name="Sober, E., & Wilson, D. S. 1999"/> Other critics argue that it is false either because it is an over-simplified interpretation of behavior<ref>[[Joseph Butler|Butler, J.]] (1726). ''Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel'', in ''The Works of Bishop Butler'', J. H. Bernard (ed.), London: Macmillan, Sermons I and XI.</ref><ref name="hume">[[David Hume|Hume, David]] (1751). ''An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals''. Public domain. ([[s:An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals|link]])</ref><ref>[[Thomas Nagel|Nagel, Thomas]] (1970). ''The Possibility of Altruism''. Princeton: Princeton University Press.</ref> or that there exists empirical evidence of altruistic behaviour.<ref>[[Daniel Batson|Batson, C.D.]] (1991). ''The Altruism Question: Toward a Social-Psychological Answer'', Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates</ref>  Recently, some have argued that [[Extended evolutionary synthesis|evolutionary theory]] provides evidence against it.<ref name=":0">[[Elliott Sober|Sober, E.]] & [[David Sloan Wilson|D.S. Wilson]] (1998). ''Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior'', Harvard University Press</ref>

Critics have stated that proponents of psychological egoism often confuse the satisfaction of their own desires with the satisfaction of their own ''self-regarding'' desires. Even though it is true that every human being seeks their own satisfaction, this sometimes may only be achieved via the well-being of their neighbor. An example of this situation could be phoning for an ambulance when a car accident has happened. In this case, the caller desires the well-being of the victim, even though the desire itself is the caller's own.<ref>Ethics and human well-being: an introduction to moral philosophy. Year 1996. Chapter 1. Psychological Egoism. By Edward Jarvis Bond.</ref>

To counter this critique, psychological egoism asserts that all such desires for the well-being of others are ultimately derived from [[self-interest]].  For example, German philosopher [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] was a psychological egoist for some of his career, though he is said to have repudiated that later in his campaign against [[morality]]. He argues in §133 of ''[[The Dawn (book)|The Dawn]]'' that in such cases compassionate impulses arise out of the projection of our identity unto the object of our feeling. He gives some hypothetical examples as illustrations to his thesis: that of a person, feeling horrified after witnessing a personal feud, coughing blood, or that of the impulse felt to save a person who is drowning in the water. In such cases, according to Nietzsche, there comes into play unconscious fears regarding our own safety. The suffering of another person is felt as a threat to our own happiness and sense of safety, because it reveals our own vulnerability to misfortunes, and thus, by relieving it, one could also ameliorate those personal sentiments.  Essentially, proponents argue that altruism is rooted in self-interest whereas opponents claim altruism occurs for altruism's sake or is caused by a non-selfish reason.<ref>Mees, U., & Schmitt, A. (2008), Sober, E., & Wilson, D. S. (1999).</ref>

=== Max Stirner ===
[[File:MaxStirner1.svg|thumb|203x203px|Stencil drawing of Max Stirner]]
Philosopher [[Max Stirner]] was an advocate for people striving towards ownness,<ref>{{Cite web |last=D'amato |first=David |title=Egoism in Rand and Stirner |url=https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/egoism-rand-stirner}}</ref> however he rejected the concept of psychological egoism because he believed most people are slaves to a 'spook'- a framework for moral behaviour that can delude our self-interest. Examples of spooks include [[society]] and [[natural rights]]. 

Stirner also uses the example of [[Juliet]] from ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' to counter psychological egoism. Juliet kills herself as a sacrifice for others' betterment. She is in love, and knows that by doing this she will leave her self-will unsatisfied, nevertheless she subjects herself to a higher power and prohibits herself from having what she truly wants.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stirner |first=Max |title=The Ego and Its Own |year=1844 |page=209 |translator-last=Byington |translator-first=Steven}}</ref><ref>Heider, Ulrike. ''Anarchism: Left, Right and Green'', San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1994, pp. 95–96.</ref>This demonstrates how it is possible for a person to act without satisfying one's self-interest.