Ethics for Life: A Text with Readings, Seventh Edition by Judith A. Boss

Author:Judith A. Boss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education

233

6. Ethical egoism, like social Darwinism and ethical subjectivism, allows the powerful to exploit the weak. Philosopher Mary Midgley criticizes Rand’s philosophy as promoting an “extreme egoist individualism.” She claims that Rand’s philosophy is simply a rehashing of social Darwinism with its glorification of commercial freedom and elitism as “survival of the fittest.” Midgley also argues that ethical egoism isolates the individual in a “fragmented, non-listening world” where morality is reduced to the private morality of ethical subjectivism thus giving the powerful permission to thrive and pursue their lifestyles at the expense of the weak.33

Ethical egoism, and the system of laissez-faire capitalism that it extols, may be attractive to those who are rich and have the power to pursue their own self-interest. The devastating effects of this ideology on the people and nations that are not in positions of economic power, however, are becoming more and more evident with the increasing accumulation of wealth and social goods in the hands of fewer and fewer people and the destruction of the environment in the name of economic progress.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.