The Egoist

Throughout the years Greek Mythology has influenced art and literature. It was created to teach people using stories about their gods. For example, the myth of the Sirens from The Odyssey teaches us to use logic to resist temptation and move forward with our lives. Ulysses, Latin for Odysseus, and his men are sailing back to their home Ithaca, when the stumble upon Sirens. They must stay strong and resist temptation so they can continue their journey. In the painting, Ulysses and The Sirens, John Williams Waterhouse uses the story of the Sirens to show that there are things in this world that will make people feel very special, but they must use logic to not fall for this temptation, while in her poem “Siren Song”, Margaret Atwood uses the same scene to show that many people want to make others feel special, but this can make it easier for them to take advantage of others. In the poem “Siren Song”, Margaret Atwood uses imagery and diction to express the theme that many people want to make others feel special, but this can make it easier for them to take advantage of others. In the beginning of the poem the Siren describes the song as, “the song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons even though they see the beached skulls” (Atwood 4-6). The men cannot resist the Sirens so they will do everything they can do to get to the Sirens even though they can clearly see the bodies of the men before them. Then later the Siren states, “I don't enjoy it here… I don't enjoy singing…

directly respond to ethical egoist , both strategic and metaphysical, arguments in defense of cooperative action being rooted in self-interest. I will begin with a strategic ethical egoist account of cooperative action to underlie a majority of “I” desires in society disguised as non “I”, but will discount this theory on grounds of exceptional cases and the overreaching nature of theory in general. This will be followed by a metaphysical…

Psychological Egoist theory explains human actions, like self sacrifice, are motivated by self interest rather than by altruistic theory, in which people do good deeds as an act of kindness. It doesn’t mean people act on self-interest alone, but the motivation behind it doesn’t come from altruistic at all. I found their explanation very compelling, unless it’s proven otherwise I must agree. Of course, agreeing makes me lose hope in human actions, but their explanation makes sense. For example,…

In today’s world, people who are egoists are often thought of to be self-centered and selfish. Egoism is the theory that one should use himself to motivate and to achieve goals. Ayn Rand confronts egoism differently in Anthem. She views egoism as an extension to Individualism. Throughout the story Prometheus discovers that ego is not a bad thing and becomes an egoist. By the end of the book Prometheus uses his own self interests to drive himself, putting his own motives above those of his…

The psychological egoist feels that in everything humans do, they are motivated internally by self-interest. The argument made by the psychological egoist was that since the unselfish actions always produce self-satisfaction, these actions should then be considered selfish. Rachels’ reply to this argument questioned the reasoning behind the belief that is someone acts in a way that helps others, they are automatically selfish. He stated that it is the unselfish man who gets self-satisfaction…

Prometheus the Egoist According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word ‘ego’ means the self especially as contrasted with another self or the world. In our society being in egoist is considered wrong. We are taught that having a ‘big ego’ means you are full of yourself. In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand the main character, Prometheus, is an egoist. According to our society, this is a bad thing; according to the world in Ayn Rand’s novel, this is a bad thing. However, being an egoist isn’t…

Why is ego such a terrible word, and why do so many people despise this simple three letter word? Based on both the connotative and denotative meanings of ego and egoist, many would assume they are horrible words, and they would guess that Prometheus is an egoist because he wants to be his own human being, not controlled by others. One doesn’t want people to be all about themselves, but at the same time do one really want someone all up in his or her business? There is a happy medium that can be…

of the action. Ethical egoism is a consequential moral philosophy where the individual takes care of themselves first by putting their goals and interests ahead of everyone else. The ethical egoist is not concerned with the good intentions of their actions or following any preset moral or religious guidelines. An egoist wants to maximize their own happiness and reduce pain in their lives. Psychological egoism is, by far, the simplest…

Ethical egoism is a moral theory focused on improving a person’s well-being. There are many arguments for ethical egoism such as the self reliance argument and the best argument for ethical egoism, both presented by Shafer-Landau in The Fundamentals of Ethics. However, in this paper I will discuss how objections presented by Shafer-Landau and Dr. Thomas Carson are fatal to ethical egoism, while keeping in mind arguments for ethical egoism. I will discuss objections such as ethical egoism…

When I say “I am an egoist” I automatically know what the majority of people will think, and that is “how selfish of you to think only of yourself”? When most people hear the word egoist it is automatically associated to have an extremely negative meaning about a person being a selfish person. Ethical egoist should not be confused with someone who is selfish, since this is not the traits of the egoist. The egoist believes that moral decisions should be made to benefit self-interest, meaning…