Rational Egoism
If you are like me then you believe that looking out for what is best for yourself is one of the most ethical approaches to leadership and is the most beneficial line of thinking when trying to reach personal and group success. It is not that rational egoists are selfish; they just believe that when going about making an ethical decision it is easiest to first do what is in your own self-interest, and also try to persuade others to do what is in your own best self-interest.
Ethical egoism occurs in three main forms. Firstly, in an individual form that maintains that one should act in their own self-interest. Second, the personal form maintains that a person should act in his or her own self-interest, but that I make no claim about what anyone else should do. And Thirdly, The universal form maintains that everyone should always act in his or her own self-interest. This third one is the most common practice form of rational egoism. Of all of the consequentialist commensurable, I related most to rational egoism. I think it may have to do with my current outlook on my life and how I believe I can best serve myself, my family and loved ones, and also society. I feel strongly about looking out for my own self-interest and can say proudly that a lot of the decisions I have made in my young adult life could match up with the description of a universal rational egoist. I have my self-interest first almost always (romantic relationships would be the only exception to me personally.) I picked a college based on my own self-interest both for academic and athletic reasons. While at college, I along with most of my peers, act in our own self-interest, not because we are cruel selfish beings, but because we know what we are here for and that is to strive as people and as students. I never fault my friends for putting themselves first. In fact, as a universal rational egoist, I encourage it.
When applying this theory to your personal ethical decision-making, it is important that you are fully aware of what is in your best self-interest. For example, the college student who thinks it is in their best self-interest to skip class, drink all the time, and not do their work, is clearly not aware of what is in their best self-interest.
Another slippery slope when trying to apply universal rational egoism as an ethical decision-making tool is how to balance competing self-interests. For example, as a college student, you may be low on available disposable income. So you decided to take on a part-time job so you can have more money to spend on possible wants. In this instance, it is unclear if having this part-time job is in your best self-interest. On one hand, having this extra money could make you happy and more flexible financially. On the other hand, this part-time job could take away from your focus and or the amount of time you can spend on studying and doing work for classes. In this example, it is unclear whether having this part-time job is actually in your best self-interest.
It is for reasons like this that critics of rational egoism dismiss it as an ethical position in the first place. Some wonder how you can possibly make reasonable ethical decisions when only thinking about yourself.
What the critics fail to take into consideration in my opinion, is how being egocentric and thinking of you first can actually be beneficial to a large group in the long run. If every person in a larger group looks out for their own self-interest, and all members of the group end up prospering and thriving, it by association makes the group stronger. The act of putting yourself first, combined with constant encouragement for others to do the same can result in very positive results if every member of the hypothetical group does their part not only to do what is best for themselves but also is relentless in their encouragement and belief of other group members to strive to be their best selves.
All in all, universal rational egoism is a vital ethical position for those who want to achieve maximum individual and group success through the means of striving for every person to attempt to put their own self-interests at the forefront of their values and ethical decision making.
