veneer theory
People are moral out of fear of sanction/punishment. “Really” are deep-down self-interested (egoistic) creatures.
- evolution by natural selection “selects” for selfishness
- we are products of national selection
- therefore, we must be egoists (i.e., selfish)
subscript gambit
subscript gambit is the notion to use multiple different terms/subscripts to define a possibly contested term in order to remove the contention.
altruism
- altruism1: A behaves towards B in a way that decreases its own reproductive success and increases the reproductive success of B
- altruism2: A acts towards B in a way that detracts from the fulfillment of its own current desired to promote the perceived desires of B
- altruism3: A acts towards B in ways motivated to promote B’s interests
egoism
- egoism1: person puts their own needs first doest’ consider others in a way that’s unacceptable
- egoism2
- every action is explained by the fact that we are motivated by ultimately self-interested desires
- every action is the result of an agent acting on their own strongest desire
question: are there good reasons that we should be egoists?
agency
- agency1: “rational agency” the agency to believe world view
- agency2: “animal/affective agency”, wehre intentions and ochices are mechancial product of th estrongest desire in the moment
- agency3: “functionally describable movement”