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Inverse View
It is not the case that Psychological egoism, defended by Hobbes and Mandeville, holds that all motivation reduces to self-interest, including apparent concern for others.
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Reasons For
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1.
Parents routinely sacrifice survival interests (sleep, resources, safety) for children's welfare in ways that cannot be explained by indirect self-benefit.
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2.
If any psychological satisfaction from helping counts as 'self-interest,' the theory becomes tautological and empirically untestable by definition.
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3.
Documented cases of strangers risking death for unknown others (rescuing during disasters) lack plausible self-interested explanations or rewards.
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Reasons Against
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Reason against
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1.
Introspection reveals that even 'altruistic' acts provide satisfaction, pleasure, or relief from guilt—all self-interested psychological states.
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2.
Evolution selects for organisms that maximize their own survival and reproduction; apparent altruism masks underlying self-benefiting strategies.
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3.
When we help others, we can always identify some benefit to ourselves—reputation, reciprocity, or emotional reward—making self-interest unfalsifiable.
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