Ethics Discussion Board 3

In my judgment, there is nothing contradictory about ethical egoism's premise that individuals have no moral obligation to do what is not in their best interests. Everyone cannot accept the policy to maximize one's own interests because the policy excludes the interests of others. Ethical egoism advocates charity so that other people's interests do not permeate one's own. As a result, this demonstrates a consistent position. If a person wants to maximize his own interests, he will encourage others to be altruistic so that he can achieve his objectives. In a modern context, one need to consider things that are immoral although the individual believes they will not incur negative consequences. Modern examples of Plato's ring of Gyges include the following. The first example is the victimless crimes. These crimes include drug use, gambling, and prostitution. With victimless crimes, the actions do not have a direct threat to the rights of the groups involved. The second example includes sins committed by mega-corporations. Large companies commit sins, and they think that they cannot be held accountable. Ford Company portrays a good example. The company's engineers produced Pinto although they knew it would cause accidents since it was unsafe. They thought that the lower cost of production would offset the payment on average claims. The "ring" failed since the company extremely underestimated the number of injuries and deaths caused by design faults.

Friendship is not purely egoistic. In friendship, one needs to act in the interest of the companion. Similarly, one would expect the other person to return the good will. This is contrary to the ethical egoism, which requires people to act in their interest. Therefore, friendship is not purely egoistic because true friends cannot always portray purely selfish motives.