The Selfishness Project

If doing what’s best for oneself comes into conflict with what’s best for the world, which interest would you serve–your own or that of the world? Questioning the way one was raised. ( 1 min. )

Is it selfish to go to school? Selfishness and altruism in choosing one’s major. ( 3 min. )

Part 1: An example of a selfish action and the meaning of “selfish.” Utilitarianism, Kantianism, egoism. Building a shed for grandma. The nature of ethics: Is ethics only other-regarding? Where do our ideas of “the good” and “the bad” come from? Becoming more long-range. Blaring one’s music. What kind of society do we want to live in? Guilt. Swiping money. Relativizing ethics/morality to something’s nature. Emergency (e.g., lifeboat) situations.

Part 2: Why prefer one’s own good/pleasure to that of others? Is any explanation needed or is the answer just obvious? Seeing oneself as special and as the center of the universe, and growing up ethically. Grounding ethics in phenomenology (i.e., experience or conscious states), e.g., pleasure/pain. A button-pressing thought experiment—autonomy and consent. Robert Nozick’s experience machine. Combining egoism and phenomenalism. Silly questions? A drug dropout. Grandfather in the mines. Metaphysical pleasure. What matters ethically: consequences or intentions? Grounding ethics in others’ phenomenology—or one’s own. Meaning. Ethics and human nature—the moral and the practical. ( 128 min. )

Is creating art selfish? How to define “selfishness.” What’s the motive behind your action: To benefit yourself? Others? Both? Would you do something that you didn’t expect to benefit you? If so, why, and how much time would you spend on it? What makes something the right/moral/ethical thing to do? Are good and bad relative? How much emotional flatness will you tolerate? Is there even such a thing as emotional flatness? The purpose of our being here. Robert Nozick’s experience machine thought experiment. If you could take a drug that made you happy all the time would you take it? ( 73 min. )

Selflessness/selfishness in relationships. Are we missing a word to describe actions that benefit oneself but that don’t hurt others? Asian selflessness in choosing a subject to major in in college. ( 14 min. )

One philosopher’s perspective on selfishness. The dictionary definition of “selfishness.” How to determine the right definition. Generic terms and subdivisions thereof (via adjectives). Selflessness. Judging selfishness/selflessness in the full context. Yoga, meditation, and selfishness. Senses of “self.” Using etymology (or word parts: “self” + “-ish”) to understand “selfish.” Stipulative/arbitrary meaning. ( 39 min. )

Does the concept of “self-interest” apply to nations as wholes rather than just individual people? If so, how? The public good. Individualism vs. collectivism (Plato/Hegel). ( 11 min. )

Is joining the military selfless? ( 7 min. )

Selfishness, being a lawyer, and doing harm. Objective justice and self-interest. Harmonious selfishness. “Eye for an eye,” self-interest, and punishment. Public funding, individual liberty, and selfishness. ( 19 min. )

Topics covered: The Chinese word for “selfish.” The Chinese attitude toward selfishness and the one-child policy. Staying in the U.S. vs. going back to China: Is one of those options selfish? Which would make you happiest—and would you choose that option? Are we missing a word? Can selfishness be a good thing? How should it be defined? ( 24 min. )