Introduction
Perhaps no issue is more central in moral philosophy than that concerning the relative merits of the claims made upon our conduct by our self-interest and by the interest of others. Debates have centred not only on the question of the extent to which each of these claims ought to govern our conduct, but also on the question of the extent to which each of them actually does govern our conduct. The term ‘egoism’ is most often used as a label, either for the view that people ought to act in such a way as to best promote their own interests, subordinating the demands made upon their conduct by the interests of others to this primary concern (ethical egoism) or for the view that people do, in fact, always act in such a way as to make the pursuit of their own interest their primary and overriding concern (psychological egoism).
