Utilitarianism -Associated with John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham -based on the principle of utility: the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome (outcome over intentions)

the proper course of action is the one that maximizes utility, usually defined as maximizing happiness and reducing suffering. An action is right (or wrong) to the extent that it increases (or decreases) the total happiness of the affected parties.

Highway Routing Scenario State may replace a curvy stretch of highway 
New highway segment 1 mile shorter 
150 houses would have to be removed 
Some wildlife habitat would be destroyed

Evaluation: Costs : $20 million to compensate homeowners 
$10 million to construct new highway 
Lost wildlife habitat worth $1 million Benefits : $39 million savings in automobile driving costs Conclusion : Benefits exceed costs Building highway a good action

Psychological Egoism Psychological egoism is as much a theory about who we are as human beings as it is a theory of how we ought to act. It is an attempt to give one simple explanation of human motivation and behavior. Psychological Egoism: the theory that every human action is motivated by self- interest.

Psych. Egoism (continued) To state that individuals are driven by self-interest is not to prove it to be the case. Basic Test: take any virtue or apparently selfless act, and see if it is possible to reinterpret in terms of self-interest. Problem: that fact that such a reinterpretation is possible does not make it true.

Ethical Egoism- associated with Ayn Rand Underlying assumption of most morality: we have “natural” duties to help others simply because they are people who could be helped or harmed by what we do. Ethical egoism holds that we have no natural duties to others. Ethical egoism: the normative ethical theory that holds that each person ought to pursue his or her own self-interest. Our only duty is our duty to ourselves.

Ayn Rand’s Argument To value the individual, we cannot expect them to sacrifice it for others. A person’s life is of supreme importance Altruism regards the life of the individual as something one must be ready to sacrifice for others. Therefore, altruism does not take seriously the value of the human individual. Ethical egoism allows each person to value his or her own life as being of ultimate value. Therefore, ethical egoism is the philosophy we ought to accept.

Ayn Rand’sTest Take any virtue or apparently selfless act, and see if it is possible to reinterpret in terms of self-interest. A school shooting occurs at a grammar school. The teacher puts herself between the shooter and the children, dying in the process. A man rushes into a burning building, saving a family of 6, one at a time. On his last trip, he gets hit and crushed by a falling timber. The woman he was helping crawls to safety, but he does not survive.