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Summary Psychological egoism is the thesis that all of our (intentional) actions are ultimately motivated by what we take to be in our own self-interest. This is distinct from ethical egoism, which makes a similar claim that is normative rather than merely descriptive. Many treat altruism as a motivational state that is ultimately other-regarding. (This is importantly different from more technical uses of the term, such as the merely behavioral sense often used in evolutionary theory.) Psychological altruism is the main opposing view, stating that some of our actions are ultimately motivated by genuine altruism (ultimately other-regarding motivations). Importantly, the motivations here must be ultimate or intrinsic. Psychological egoists admit that we can desire to help another, but they will maintain that this is merely instrumental to an ultimate desire that is self-interested. Such a theory is important to ethics in part because it can potentially lead to challenging morality: If altruism is psychologically impossible, then it can't be our duty to be altruistic.
Key works Egoism was a dominant topic among the British Moralists. The selections from Hobbes, Shaftesbury, Mandeville, Hutcheson, Butler, Hume, Smith, and Bentham in Raphael 1969 are key. However, Butler 1726 (esp. Sermon XI) is one of the most important. Broad 1949 provides a more recent starting point, reflecting the popular view that Butler thoroughly "killed" egoism. In fact, most philosophers seem to think the theory has been long dead. Yet Sober & Wilson 1998 (esp. Ch. 9) argue that this is too fast, although evolutionary theory can better resolve the debate (Ch. 10). 
Introductions Feinberg 1978 provides a classic, but increasingly dated, summary. More recent overviews are in May 2011 and Shaver 2021, which include discussion of empirical work on egoism. For a more detailed review of the empirical literature, see Stich et al 2010.
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  1. The Ring of Gyges: On the Unity of Practical Reason.David Copp - forthcoming - Social Philosophy and Policy.
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  2. Valuing the “Afterlife”.Avram Hiller - 2024 - Topoi 43 (1):65-73.
    To what extent do we value future generations? It may seem from our behavior that we don’t value future generations much at all, at least in relation to how much we value present generations. However, in his book _Death and the Afterlife_, Samuel Scheffler argues that we value the future even _more_ than we value the present, even though this is not immediately apparent to us. If Scheffler’s argument is sound, then it has important ramifications: It would give us a (...)
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  3. Altruistic Motivation Beyond Ultimate Desires.Junior Mendonca - 2023 - Dissertation, The University of Western Australia
    The term “altruism” is used in many ways. In this thesis, I discuss altruism as a motivation, which is an influential notion in philosophy and the social sciences. Questions about the nature and the possibility of altruistic motivation have inspired much debate, both in academia and in everyday conversations. How can we know when we are truly altruistic and when we are merely helping others as a means to some egoistic goal? Are humans even capable of genuine altruistic motivation or (...)
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  4. Is the warm glow actually warm? An experimental investigation into the nature and determinants of warm glow feelings.Bianchi Robin T., Cova Florian & Tieffenbach Emma - 2023 - International Journal of Wellbeing 13 (3):1-23.
    Giving money to others feels good. It is now standard to use the label ‘warm glow feelings’ to refer to the pleasure people take from giving. But what exactly are warm glow feelings? And why do people experience them? To answer these questions, we ran two studies: a recall task in which participants were asked to remember a donation they made, and a donation task in which participants were given the opportunity to make a donation before reporting their affective states. (...)
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  5. On Deducing Ethical Egoism from Psychological Egoism.John J. Tilley - 2023 - Theoria 89 (1):14-30.
    A familiar question is whether psychological egoism (suitably supplemented with plausible further premises) entails ethical egoism. This paper considers this question, treating it much more thoroughly than do any previous treatments. For instance, it discusses all of the most common understandings of ethical and psychological egoism. It further discusses many strategies and arguments relevant to the question addressed. Although this procedure creates complexity, it has value. It forestalls the suspicion, aroused by so many treatments of this subject, that the results (...)
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  6. Egoismo e altruismo.Lorenzo Greco - 2022 - In Simone Pollo (ed.), Le idee dell'etica. Un'introduzione storica. Roma: Carocci editore. pp. 127-48.
  7. Altruistic Vaccination: Insights from Two Focus Group Studies.Steven R. Kraaijeveld & Bob C. Mulder - 2022 - Health Care Analysis 30 (3):275-295.
    Vaccination can protect vaccinated individuals and often also prevent them from spreading disease to other people. This opens up the possibility of getting vaccinated for the sake of others. In fact, altruistic vaccination has recently been conceptualized as a kind of vaccination that is undertaken primary for the benefit of others. In order to better understand the potential role of altruistic motives in people’s vaccination decisions, we conducted two focus group studies with a total of 37 participants. Study 1 included (...)
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  8. Does Psychological Egoism Entail Ethical Egoism?John J. Tilley - 2022 - Review of Metaphysics 76 (1):115-133.
    [If you find this article interesting, let me mention another of my articles, “On Deducing Ethical Egoism from Psychological Egoism” (Theoria, 2023), which in many ways is a more thorough treatment of the topic. But it’s not an expanded version of this one. For instance, each article addresses arguments not addressed in the other.] Philosophers generally reject the view that psychological egoism (suitably supplemented with further premises) entails ethical egoism. Their rejections are generally unsatisfying. Some are too brief to win (...)
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  9. Empathy, Altruism and Group Identification.Kengo Miyazono & Kiichi Inarimori - 2021
    This paper investigates the role of group identification in empathic emotion and its behavioral consequences. Our central idea is that group identification is the key to understanding the process in which empathic emotion causes helping behavior. Empathic emotion causes helping behavior because it involves group identification, which motivates helping behavior toward other members. This paper focuses on a hypothesis, which we call “self-other merging hypothesis (SMH),” according to which empathy-induced helping behavior is due to the “merging” between the helping agent (...)
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  10. Altruistic Behavior: An Inquiry into Motivation: An Inquiry into Motivation.Paul S. Penner (ed.) - 2021 - BRILL.
    This book is an inquiry into the motivation for altruistic behavior. It uncovers the condition that prompts or sometimes even compels us to act intentionally for the benefit of others. This condition, the pre-reflective experience of another person as a self-conscious individual just like oneself, finds its origin in the very structure of the mind. The essay is a synthesis of evidence from neuroscience, phenomenology, Eastern philosophy, analytic philosophy of mind, and cognitive psychology. Hence, it is an excellent example of (...)
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  11. Egoism.Robert Shaver - 2021 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
    Egoism can be a descriptive or a normative position. Psychological egoism, the most famous descriptive position, claims that each person has but one ultimate aim: her own welfare. Normative forms of egoism make claims about what one ought to do, rather than describe what one does do. Ethical egoism claims that it is necessary and sufficient for an action to be morally right that it maximize one's self-interest. Rational egoism claims that it is necessary and sufficient for an action to (...)
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  12. Uncovering the Moral Heuristics of Altruism: A Philosophical Scale.Julian Friedland, Kyle Emich & Benjamin M. Cole - 2020 - PLoS ONE 15 (3).
    Extant research suggests that individuals employ traditional moral heuristics to support their observed altruistic behavior; yet findings have largely been limited to inductive extrapolation and rely on relatively few traditional frames in so doing, namely, deontology in organizational behavior and virtue theory in law and economics. Given that these and competing moral frames such as utilitarianism can manifest as identical behavior, we develop a moral framing instrument—the Philosophical Moral-Framing Measure (PMFM)—to expand and distinguish traditional frames associated and disassociated with observed (...)
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  13. Altruism.Richard Kraut - 2020 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
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  14. Les mains mortes de la sélection de groupe et de la phénoménologie -Un examen de "l'Individualité et l'Intrication" (Individuality and Entanglement) par Herbert Gintis 357p (2017) (examen révisé 2019).Michael Richard Starks - 2020 - In Bienvenue en Enfer sur Terre : Bébés, Changement climatique, Bitcoin, Cartels, Chine, Démocratie, Diversité, Dysgénique, Égalité, Pirates informatiques, Droits de l'homme, Islam, Libéralisme, Prospérité, Le Web, Chaos, Famine, Maladie, Violence, Intellige. Las Vegas, NV, USA: Reality Press. pp. 257-269.
    Depuis Gintis est un économiste senior et j’ai lu certains de ses livres précédents avec intérêt, je m’attendais à un peu plus de perspicacité dans le comportement. Malheureusement, il fait les mains mortes de la sélection de groupe et la phénoménologie dans les pièces maîtresses de ses théories du comportement, et cela invalide en grande partie le travail. Pire encore, puisqu’il montre un si mauvais jugement ici, il remet en question tout son travail précédent. La tentative de ressusciter la sélection (...)
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  15. 이타주의, 예수와 세상의 끝- Templeton Foundation은 하버드에서 진화, 합리성 및 문명을 공격하기 위해 교수직을 구입했습니다. '지구의 사회 정복'(2012) (The Social Conquest of Earth) E.O. Wilson 과 Nowak과 Highfield의 '슈퍼 파트너' (Supercooperators) (2012)의 검토(2019년 검토).Michael Richard Starks - 2020 - In 지구상의 지옥에 오신 것을 환영합니다 : 아기, 기후 변화, 비트 코인, 카르텔, 중국, 민주주의, 다양성, 역학, 평등, 해커, 인권, 이슬람, 자유주의, 번영, 웹, 혼돈, 기아, 질병, 폭력, 인공 지능, 전쟁. Las Vegas , NV USA: Reality Press. pp. 310-316.
    유명한 개미맨 E.O. 윌슨은 뛰어난 생물학자일 뿐만 아니라, 적어도 다른 사람들이 이해하지 못하는 우리의 본성에 대한 진실을 감히 암시하기 위해 감히, 또는 정치적 편의를위해 공전적으로 피하는 소수의 지식인 중 한 명입니다. 슬프게도, 그는 적어도 하버드 동료들의 종교적 열정에 의해 동기를 부여 과학에 대한 무지하고 오만한 공격의 당사자로서 가장 끔찍한 방식으로 자신의 긴 경력을 끝내고 종교적 열정 있습니다. 그것은 대학이 종교 단체에서 돈을 받아 들일 때 사악한 결과를 보여줍니다, 과학 저널은 그들이 적절한 동료 검토를 피할 수 있도록 큰 이름에 의해 너무 (...)
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  16. परोपकार, यीशु और दुनिया के अंत-कैसे टेम्पलटन फाउंडेशन एक हार्वर्ड प्रोफेसरशिप खरीदा है और विकास, तर्कसंगतता और सभ्यता पर हमला किया। ई.ओ. विल्सन 'पृथ्वी की सामाजिक विजय' (2012) और Nowak और Highfield 'SuperCooperators'(2012)की समीक्षा Altruism, Jesus and the End of the World—how the Templeton Foundation bought a Harvard Professorship and attacked Evolution, Rationality and Civilization. A review of E.O. Wilson 'The Social Conquest of Earth' (2012) and Nowak and Highfield ‘SuperCooperators’ (समीक्षा संशोधित 2019).Michael Richard Starks - 2020 - In पृथ्वी पर नर्क में आपका स्वागत है: शिशुओं, जलवायु परिवर्तन, बिटकॉइन, कार्टेल, चीन, लोकतंत्र, विविधता, समानता, हैकर्स, मानव अधिकार, इस्लाम, उदारवाद, समृद्धि, वेब, अराजकता, भुखमरी, बीमारी, हिंसा, कृत्रिम बुद्धिमत्ता, युद्ध. Las Vegas, NV, USA: Reality Press. pp. 307-322.
    प्रसिद्ध चींटी आदमी ई.ओ. विल्सन हमेशा मेरे नायकों में से एक रहा है - न केवल एक उत्कृष्ट जीवविज्ञानी, लेकिन बुद्धिजीवियों के छोटे और गायब अल्पसंख्यक जो कम से कम हमारी प्रकृति के बारे में सच्चाई पर संकेत करने की हिम्मत है कि दूसरों को समझने में विफल, या insofar के रूप में वेओ समझ , जोर से राजनीतिक expience के लिए बचने के लिए. अफसोस की बात है, वह एक पार्टी के रूप में सबसे कठोर फैशन में अपने लंबे (...)
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  17. Altruísmo, Jesus e o Fim do Mundo - Artigos e Avaliações 2006-2019.Michael Richard Starks - 2020 - Las Vegas, NV USA: Reality Press.
    A predisposição genética para ajudar nossos parentes próximos ("altruísmo"), que era vital para sobreviver em nossos ancestrais nas planícies da África dezenas de milhares a dezenas de milhões de anos atrás, é um defeito fatal em um mundo superlotado onde nossos vizinhos não estão mais intimamente relacionados e estão envolvidos em uma luta de vida e morte pela sobrevivência. Eu me referi a isso como "A Única Grande Ilusão De Família Feliz" e é central para as ilusões utópicas suicidas da (...)
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  18. 利他主义、耶稣和世界末日——邓普顿基金会如何买下哈佛教授职位,攻击进化、理性和文明。E.O. Wilson"地球的社会征服"(2012年)和诺瓦克和高场"超级合作者"(2012年)的评论(2019年修订版) (Altruism, Jesus and the End of the World—how the Templeton Foundation bought a Harvard Professorship and attacked Evolution, Rationality and Civilization. A review of E.O. Wilson 'The Social Conquest of Earth' (2012) and Nowak and Highfield ‘SuperCooperators’(2012)).Michael Richard Starks - 2020 - In 欢迎来到地球上的地狱: 婴儿,气候变化,比特币,卡特尔,中国,民主,多样性,养成基因,平等,黑客,人权,伊斯兰教,自由主义,繁荣,网络,混乱。饥饿,疾病,暴力,人工智能,战争. Las Vegas, NV USA: Reality Press. pp. 246-257.
    著名的蚂蚁人E.O.Wilson一直是我的英雄之一——不仅是一位杰出的生物学家,而且是一小撮正在消失的知识分子,他们至少敢于暗示我们本性的真相,而其他人却无法领会,或者只要他们所掌握的,刻意避免政治权 宜之计。可悲的是,他以最脏的方式结束了他漫长的职业生涯,成为对科学的无知和傲慢攻击的一方,至少部分是出于哈佛同事的宗教热情。它显示了当大学接受宗教团体的钱,科学期刊被大牌们敬畏,以至于他们避免适当的同 行评议,当自我被允许失控时,后果不堪设想。它带我们进入进化的本质,科学方法论的基础,数学如何与科学的关系,什么构成一个理论,甚至什么态度的宗教和慷慨是适当的,因为我们无情地接近工业的崩溃文明。 那些希望从现代两个系统的观点来看为人类行为建立一个全面的最新框架的人,可以查阅我的书《路德维希的哲学、心理学、Min d和语言的逻辑结构》维特根斯坦和约翰·西尔的《第二部》(2019年)。那些对我更多的作品感兴趣的人可能会看到《会说话的猴子——一个末日星球上的哲学、心理学、科学、宗教和政治——文章和评论2006-20 19年第3次(2019年)和自杀乌托邦幻想21篇世纪4日 (2019) .
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  19. Survival Egoism: We are, They will be.Tommaso Castiglione Ferrari - 2019 - Dissertation, N/A
    During the last century, the new, exciting field of Artificial Intelligence has risen. With its promises, fears for the uncertain future development of this area started to rise. Is it going to be sentient? Is it going to be smarter than us? Is it going to "understand" our uselessness? Is it going to decide that we are no more fundamental? And consequently decide to end our species? These and more questions emerged, nourished by the apprehension of the possible dangers that (...)
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  20. Précis of Regard for Reason in the Moral Mind.Joshua May - 2019 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 42 (e146):1-60.
    Regard for Reason in the Moral Mind argues that a careful examination of the scientific literature reveals a foundational role for reasoning in moral thought and action. Grounding moral psychology in reason then paves the way for a defense of moral knowledge and virtue against a variety of empirical challenges, such as debunking arguments and situationist critiques. The book attempts to provide a corrective to current trends in moral psychology, which celebrate emotion over reason and generate pessimism about the psychological (...)
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  21. Altruísmo, Jesus e o fim do mundo — como a Fundação Templeton comprou uma cátedra de Harvard e atacou evolução, racionalidade e civilização. Uma revisão de E.O. Wilson ' A Conquista Social da Terra ' (The Social Conquest of Earth) (2012) e Nowak e Highfield ' SuperCooperators ' (2012) (revisão revisada 2019).Michael Richard Starks - 2019 - In Delírios Utópicos Suicidas no Século XXI Filosofia, Natureza Humana e o Colapso da Civilization- Artigos e Comentários 2006-2019 5ª edição. Las Vegas, NV USA: Reality Press. pp. 260-272.
    Famoso formiga-homem E.O. Wilson sempre foi um dos meus heróis-não só um excelente biólogo, mas um dos minúsculos e desaparecendo minoria de intelectuais que, pelo menos, se atreve a sugerir a verdade sobre a nossa natureza que os outros não conseguem entender, ou na medida em que do agarrar , de forma a evitar a conveniência política. Infelizmente, ele está terminando sua longa carreira em uma moda mais sórdido como um partido para um ataque ignorante e arrogante sobre a ciência (...)
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  22. El altruismo, Jesús y el fin del mundo: cómo la Fundación Templeton compró una Cátedra de Harvard y atacó la evolución, la racionalidad y la civilización. Una revisión de E.O. Wilson ' La Conquista Social de la Tierra ' (The Social Conquest of Earth) (2012) y Nowak y Highfield ' Supercooperadores ' (Supercooperators) (2012)(revisión revisada 2019).Michael Richard Starks - 2019 - In Delirios Utópicos Suicidas en el Siglo 21 La filosofía, la naturaleza humana y el colapso de la civilización Artículos y reseñas 2006-2019 4a Edición. Las Vegas, NV USA: Reality Press. pp. 357-370.
    El famoso hombre hormiga E.O. Wilson siempre ha sido uno de mis héroes-no sólo un biólogo sobresaliente, sino una de las pequeñas y desvanecida minoría de intelectuales que al menos se atreve a insinuar la verdad sobre nuestra naturaleza que otros no logran captar, o en la medida en que do comprender, evitar de manera estudiosa la conveniencia política. Tristemente, está terminando su larga carrera en una moda más sóla como parte de un ataque ignorante y arrogante a la ciencia (...)
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  23. Francis Hutcheson and John Clarke on Desire and Self-Interest.John J. Tilley - 2019 - The European Legacy 24 (1): 1-24.
    Among the most animating debates in eighteenth-century British ethics was the debate over psychological egoism, the view that our most basic desires are self-interested. An important episode in that debate, less well known than it should be, was the exchange between Francis Hutcheson and John Clarke of Hull. In the early editions of his Inquiry into Virtue, Hutcheson argued ingeniously against psychological egoism; in his Foundation of Morality, Clarke argued ingeniously against Hutcheson’s arguments. Later, Hutcheson attempted new arguments against psychological (...)
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  24. Generosity: A Preliminary Account of a Surprisingly Neglected Virtue.Christian B. Miller - 2018 - Metaphilosophy 49 (3):216-245.
    There have only been three articles in mainstream philosophy journals going back at least to the 1970s on generosity. In this paper, I hope to draw attention to this neglected virtue. By building on what work has already been done, and trying to advance that discussion along several different dimensions, I hope that others will take a closer look at this important and surprisingly complex virtue. More specifically, I formulate three important necessary conditions for what is involved in possessing the (...)
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  25. Butler's Stone.John J. Tilley - 2018 - Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 99 (4): 891–909.
    Early in the eleventh of his Fifteen Sermons, Joseph Butler advances his best-known argument against psychological hedonism. Elliott Sober calls that argument Butler’s stone, and famously objects to it. I consider whether Butler’s stone has philosophical value. In doing so I examine, and reject, two possible ways of overcoming Sober’s objection, each of which has proponents. In examining the first way I discuss Lord Kames’s version of the stone argument, which has hitherto escaped scholarly attention. Finally, I show that Butler’s (...)
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  26. Psychological Egoism.Joel Feinberg - 2017 - In Joel Feinberg & Russ Shafer-Landau (eds.), Reason and Responsibility, 16th edition. Boston: Cengage. pp. 561-574.
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  27. Empathy and Intersubjectivity.Joshua May - 2017 - In Heidi Maibom (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Empathy. New York: Routledge. pp. 169-179.
    Empathy is intersubjective in that it connects us mentally with others. Some theorists believe that by blurring the distinction between self and other empathy can provide a radical form of altruism that grounds all of morality and even a kind of immortality. Others are more pessimistic and maintain that in distorting the distinction between self and other empathy precludes genuine altruism. Even if these positions exaggerate self-other merging, empathy’s intersubjectivity can perhaps ground ordinary altruism and the rational recognition that one (...)
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  28. How Contemporary Psychology Supports Central Elements of Simḥah Zissel’s Picture of Character.Christian Miller - 2017 - Journal of Jewish Ethics 3:120-130.
    This is my contribution to a book symposium on Professor Geoffrey Claussen’s book, Sharing the Burden: Rabbi Simḥah Zissel Ziv and the Path of Musar. I focus on just two topics that figure prominently in Professor Claussen’s book: human nature and the virtue of love.
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  29. The Transient Suppression of the Worst Devils of our Nature—a review of Steven Pinker’s ‘The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined’(2012).Michael Starks - 2017 - Philosophy, Human Nature and the Collapse of Civilization -- Articles and Reviews 2006-2017 3rd Ed 686p(2017).
    This is not a perfect book, but it is unique, and if you skim the first 400 or so pages, the last 300 (of some 700) are a pretty good attempt to apply what's known about behavior to social changes in violence and manners over time. The basic topic is: how does our genetics control and limit social change? Surprisingly he fails to describe the nature of kin selection (inclusive fitness) which explains much of animal and human social life. He (...)
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  30. Francis Hutcheson and John Clarke: Self-Interest, Desire, and Divine Impassibility.John J. Tilley - 2017 - International Philosophical Quarterly 57 (3):315-330.
    In this article I address a puzzle about one of Francis Hutcheson’s objections to psychological egoism. The puzzle concerns his premise that God receives no benefit from rewarding the virtuous. Why, in the early editions of his Inquiry Concerning Virtue (1725, 1726), does Hutcheson leave this premise undefended? And why, in the later editions (1729, 1738), does he continue to do so, knowing that in 1726 John Clarke of Hull had subjected the premise to plausible criticism, geared to the very (...)
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  31. Moral Psychology: An Introduction.Mark Alfano - 2016 - Malden, MA: Polity.
    This book provides a rich, systematic, and accessible introduction to moral psychology, aimed at undergraduate philosophy and psychology majors. There are eight chapters, in addition to a short introduction, prospective conclusion, and extensive bibliography. The recipe for each chapter will be: a) to introduce a philosophical topic (e.g., altruism, virtue, preferences, rules) and some prominent positions on it, without assuming prior acquaintance on the part of the reader b) to canvass and explain the relevance of a particular domain of empirical (...)
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  32. The Bright and Dark Side of Altruism: Demographic, Personality Traits, and Disorders Associated with Altruism.Adrian Furnham, Luke Treglown, Gillian Hyde & Geoff Trickey - 2016 - Journal of Business Ethics 134 (3):359-368.
    This study looked at personality trait and personality disorder correlates of self-rated altruism. In two studies over 4,000 adult British managers completed a battery of tests including a ‘bright side’ personality trait measure ; a ‘dark side’/disorders measure, and a measure of their Motives and Values which included Altruism. The two studies showed similar results revealing that those who were low on Adjustment but high on Interpersonal Sensitivity, Prudence and Inquisitiveness were more likely to value Altruism and be motivated to (...)
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  33. Two types of psychological hedonism.Justin Garson - 2016 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 56:7-14.
    I develop a distinction between two types of psychological hedonism. Inferential hedonism (or “I-hedonism”) holds that each person only has ultimate desires regarding his or her own hedonic states (pleasure and pain). Reinforcement hedonism (or “R–hedonism”) holds that each person's ultimate desires, whatever their contents are, are differentially reinforced in that person’s cognitive system only by virtue of their association with hedonic states. I’ll argue that accepting R-hedonism and rejecting I-hedonism provides a conciliatory position on the traditional altruism debate, and (...)
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  34. Introduction: The biology of psychological altruism.Justin Garson & Armin W. Schulz - 2016 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 56:1-2.
    I develop a distinction between two types of psychological hedonism. Inferential hedonism (or “I-hedonism”) holds that each person only has ultimate desires regarding his or her own hedonic states (pleasure and pain). Reinforcement hedonism (or “R–hedonism”) holds that each person's ultimate desires, whatever their contents are, are differentially reinforced in that person’s cognitive system only by virtue of their association with hedonic states. I’ll argue that accepting R-hedonism and rejecting I-hedonism provides a conciliatory position on the traditional altruism debate, and (...)
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  35. Does Altruism Exist? [REVIEW]William Irwin - 2016 - Philosophy Now 112:46-47.
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  36. Can altruism be unified?Grant Ramsey - 2016 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 56:32-38.
    There is clearly a plurality of forms of altruism. Classically, biological altruism is distinguished from psychological altruism. Recent discussions of altruism have attempted to distinguish even more forms of altruism. I will focus on three altruism concepts, biological altruism, psychological altruism, and helping altruism. The questions I am concerned with here are, first, how should we understand these concepts? and second, what relationship do these concepts bear to one another? In particular, is there an essence to altruism that unifies these (...)
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  37. Why there might not be an evolutionary explanation for psychological altruism.Stephen Stich - 2016 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 56:3-6.
  38. Hutcheson's Theological Objection to Egoism.John J. Tilley - 2016 - Journal of Scottish Philosophy 14 (1):101-123.
    Francis Hutcheson's objections to psychological egoism usually appeal to experience or introspection. However, at least one of them is theological: It includes premises of a religious kind, such as that God rewards the virtuous. This objection invites interpretive and philosophical questions, some of which may seem to highlight errors or shortcomings on Hutcheson's part. Also, to answer the questions is to point out important features of Hutcheson's objection and its intellectual context. And nowhere in the scholarship on Hutcheson do we (...)
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  39. Testing the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis Against Egoistic Alternatives.C. Daniel Batson - 2015 - In Lorraine Besser-Jones & Michael Slote (eds.), Routledge Companion to Virtue Ethics. New York: pp. 385-399.
  40. Distributive Justice and Empirical Moral Psychology.Christian Miller - 2015 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:Online.
    Bargaining games typically involve two players distributing a specific payoff (usually money), and will be our focus here, as they are especially helpful for examining the moral psychology of justice. Examples include the ultimatum game and dictator game. We will also look at a novel twist on the dictator game by the psychologist Daniel Batson, which has fostered a large experimental literature on what he calls ‘moral hypocrisy.’ Finally we will connect this discussion of economic games to the virtue of (...)
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  41. Historical and experimental evidence of sexual selection for war heroism.Hannes Rusch, Joost M. Leunissen & Mark van Vugt - 2015 - Evolution and Human Behavior 36 (5):367-373.
    We report three studies which test a sexual selection hypothesis for male war heroism. Based on evolutionary theories of mate choice we hypothesize that men signal their fitness through displaying heroism in combat. First, we report the results of an archival study on US-American soldiers who fought in World War II. We compare proxies for reproductive success between a control sample of 449 regular veterans and 123 surviving Medal of Honor recipients of WWII. Results suggest that the heroes sired more (...)
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  42. John Clarke of Hull's Argument for Psychological Egoism.John J. Tilley - 2015 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 23 (1):69-89.
    John Clarke of Hull, one of the eighteenth century's staunchest proponents of psychological egoism, defended that theory in his Foundation of Morality in Theory and Practice. He did so mainly by opposing the objections to egoism in the first two editions of Francis Hutcheson's Inquiry into Virtue. But Clarke also produced a challenging, direct argument for egoism which, regrettably, has received virtually no scholarly attention. In this paper I give it some of the attention it merits. In addition to reconstructing (...)
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  43. Moral psychology as accountability.Brendan Dill & Stephen Darwall - 2014 - In Justin D'Arms & Daniel Jacobson (eds.), Moral Psychology and Human Agency: Philosophical Essays on the Science of Ethics. Oxford University Press. pp. 40-83.
    Recent work in moral philosophy has emphasized the foundational role played by interpersonal accountability in the analysis of moral concepts such as moral right and wrong, moral obligation and duty, blameworthiness, and moral responsibility (Darwall 2006; 2013a; 2013b). Extending this framework to the field of moral psychology, we hypothesize that our moral attitudes, emotions, and motives are also best understood as based in accountability. Drawing on a large body of empirical evidence, we argue that the implicit aim of the central (...)
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  44. Character and Moral Psychology.Christian B. Miller - 2014 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
    This book first reviews Miller's theory of Mixed Traits, as developed in his 2013 book Moral Character: An Empirical Theory. It then engages extensively with situations, the CAPS model in social psychology, and the Big Five Model in personality psychology. It ends by taking up implications for his view in meta-ethics (a modified error theory) and normative ethics (a challenge for virtue ethics).
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  45. Counting without Numbers: A Non‐aggregative Account of the Puzzle of Altruism.Carla Bagnoli - 2013 - Journal of Social Philosophy 44 (2):124-126.
  46. The Altruism Puzzle: The Obligation to Sacrifice One's Life.Harry Brighouse - 2013 - Journal of Social Philosophy 44 (2):115-117.
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  47. The Altruism Puzzle.Steven M. Cahn - 2013 - Journal of Social Philosophy 44 (2):107-107.
    Suppose I uncover a plot to set off a bomb that would destroy a city. Only I am in position to foil the scheme. Doing so, however, would cost me my life. I may choose, of course, to sacrifice myself and thereby save thousands of others. But am I morally obligated to do so?
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  48. Altruism across disciplines: one word, multiple meanings.Christine Clavien & Michel Chapuisat - 2013 - Biology and Philosophy 28 (1):125-140.
    Altruism is a deep and complex phenomenon that is analysed by scholars of various disciplines, including psychology, philosophy, biology, evolutionary anthropology and experimental economics. Much confusion arises in current literature because the term altruism covers variable concepts and processes across disciplines. Here we investigate the sense given to altruism when used in different fields and argumentative contexts. We argue that four distinct but related concepts need to be distinguished: (a) psychological altruism , the genuine motivation to improve others’ interests and (...)
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  49. Altruism and Dāna: Impact on Self and Well-being.K. Lakshmi - 2013 - Journal of Human Values 19 (1):65-71.
    In this article, I will attempt to link altruism, a concern of Positive Psychology, a recent branch of psychology, and dāna, the deeply entrenched aspect of Indian thought. These aspects strive towards a connection with the self and well-being. In addition, an association between Indian psychological attributes, especially with reference to the Mahābhārata, and Positive Psychology will be shown. In the Indian context, dāna or the act of giving involves not merely the act of giving material or tangible goods or (...)
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  50. Self-interest and Sociability.Christian Maurer - 2013 - In James A. Harris (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of British Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century. Oxford University Press. pp. 291-314.
    The chapter analyses the debates on the relation between self-interest and sociability in eighteenth-century British moral philosophy. It focuses on the selfish hypothesis, i.e. on the egoistic theory that we are only motivated by self-interest or self-love, and that our sociability is not based on disinterested affections, such as benevolence. The selfish hypothesis is much debated especially in the early eighteenth century (Mandeville, Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, Butler, Clarke, Campbell, Gay), and then rather tacitly accepted (Hartley, Tucker, Paley) or rejected (Hume, Smith, (...)
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