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    If psychological egoism is true, it must be supported by ... — Carmelics
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    Home/Moral Responsibility
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    If psychological egoism is true, it must be supported by empirical observation of human behavior rather than by a priori reasoning.

    Moral ResponsibilityTruth & Knowledge
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.The a priori argument for psychological egoism fails.
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    • 2.The remaining way to establish psychological egoism is through close empirical observation of actual cases where people act solely for their own sake.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Conceptual claims about the structure of motivation are established by logical analysis, not empirical observation.
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    • 2.Psychological egoism, as advanced by Hobbes, is a thesis about the necessary form of desire—that all desires are self-referential by definition.
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    • 3.A definitionally necessary claim cannot be falsified by empirical counterexamples, making appeals to observation irrelevant to its justification.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Empirical observation of behavior underdetermines motivational claims, since any altruistic act can be redescribed as satisfying a self-directed desire for satisfaction.
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    • 2.Batson's empathy-altruism hypothesis shows that purely behavioral data cannot adjudicate between egoistic and altruistic interpretations without prior theoretical commitments.
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    • 3.Therefore, the theoretical framework used to interpret observations must be established through conceptual rather than purely empirical means.
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    Related

    A definitionally necessary claim cannot be falsified by empirical counterexample...Batson's empathy-altruism hypothesis shows that purely behavioral data cannot ad...Conceptual claims about the structure of motivation are established by logical a...Empirical observation of behavior underdetermines motivational claims, since any...
    +4 moreShow less
    Psychological egoism, as advanced by Hobbes, is a thesis about the necessary for...The a priori argument for psychological egoism fails.The remaining way to establish psychological egoism is through close empirical o...Therefore, the theoretical framework used to interpret observations must be esta...

    Similar

    The remaining way to establish psychological egoism is through close e...90%The a priori argument for the strongest form of psychological egoism r...85%The premises that support the a priori argument for psychological egoi...85%Stirner explicitly considers and rejects the explanatory stance of psy...85%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: altruism
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    Once again, the egoist might reply that it is an a priori truth that all of our actions are ultimately motivated only by self-interest, but we have seen the weakness of the premises that support that argument. So, if the hypothesis that sometimes one acts only for one’s own sake is true, it must recommend itself to us because close observation of human behavior supports it. We must find actual cases of someone promoting his own good only for his own sake. It is no easier to be confident about su
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit