Self and Others

1. The Aim of This Essay Ethical Egoism, the doctrine that, roughly speaking, one should promote one''s own good, has been a live issue since the very beginnings of moral philosophy. Historically, it is the most widely held normative theory, and, next to Utilitarianism, it is the most intensely debated one. What is at stake in this debate is a fundamental question of ethics: ''Is there any reason,...