EGOISM AND ALTRUISM

Phil 306

Phil 306 - Egoism and Altruism

Syllabus

Readings

Are human beings fundamentally selfish? The historical debate on “psychological egoism”

• Plato - Republic (II)
• Hobbes - Leviathan (VIII) | Butler - Five Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel
• Kropotkin - Mutual Aid Amongst Ourselves
• Rachels - Psychological Egoism

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“Ethical Egoism:” Should we be concerned about the well-being of other people, or only our own?

• Rand - For the New Intellectual
• Biddle - Introducing the Objective Standard
• Rachels - Ethical Egoism

Sorting out ‘self’ and ‘other’: some complexities

• Freud - A Form of Altruism
• Spelman - Changing the Subject: On Making Your Suffering Mine

The development of emotion-based altruistic motivational capacities

• Nichols - Sparks of Benevolence: The Varied Emotional Responses to Suffering in Others

Egoism, Altruism, and Cooperation

• Held - The Grounds for Social Trust

Social influences on altruism: profound and trivial

• Blum - Virtue and Community
• Doris - Moral Character, Moral Behavior
• Singer - Altruism and Commerce: A Defense of Titmuss Against Arrow
  
  

Buddhist and Christian Conceptions of Compassion and Universal Love

• Kierkegaard - The Works of Love

Universal vs. Particular Love

• Cottingham - Partiality, Favouritism, and Morality
• Blum - Friendship as a Moral Phenomenon
  

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Handouts

• Handout 1 - Some Reflections on Hobbes, Butler, and Egoism
• Handout 2 - Some Basic Definitions About Motivation and "Egoism"
• Handout 3 - "Egoism" and "Altruism": Some Definitions in Light of Rachels, Rand, and Maugham
• Handout 4 - Projection, Identification, and Altruism (in relation to Anna Freud, "A Form of Altruism")
• Handout 5 - Shaun Nichols, "Sparks of Benevolence: The Varied Emotional Responses to Suffering in Others" from Sentimental Rules
• Handout 6 - Reciprocity, Cooperation, Trust, and Altruism (esp. related to Held)

Paper Topics

• Possible Paper Topics
• Bibliographical Suggestions for Final Paper
• Bibliography/Crediting Sources

Exams

• Exam 1
• Exam 2
• Exam 3 (part 1) and Exam 3 (part 2)

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