¶ … Ethical egoism unsatisfactory moral theory; important corrective ethics -sacrifice. Briefly relate ethical egoism, defended Ayn Rand, ethics -sacrifice, presented Carol Gilligan's stage moral development.

Philosophy commentary

1st thread

Conventional morality tends to prioritize self-sacrifice as the ideal, particularly for females. However, the valorization of self-sacrifice can be taken too far -- Gilligan's theory of gender-based moral development seems to suggest that it is 'natural' for girls to prioritize harmony over objective ethical systems, even over their own welfare or personal sense of morality. For women to feel as though they have the right to pursue an education, to be competitive, and to have equal rights in the workplace and at home they must believe they have a certain intrinsic moral right to realize their personal goals. Too much self-sacrifice can result in codependency or supporting other people to the point that others take advantage of the person who is giving everything in an uncritical fashion. Thus emphasizing self-sacrifice too much can result in a loss of the meaningful creative contributions of women who instead expend their energies as helpers rather than seeking to shine in their own right. Also, if someone is utterly egoless, they may put aside other, higher ethical principles simply to please other people.

2nd thread

Kohlberg's moral development stages reflect to some degree the philosophy of ethical subjectivism in the sense that they acknowledge that age can affect one's moral perceptions and the developmental perspective of the individual can make it difficult to place higher principles above lower, simplistic ones. However, by ranking moral decisions on a hierarchy and placing ethical decision-making at the pinnacle, Kohlberg is ultimately making a very strong statement about how objective ethical principles in the 'post-conventional stage' are the highest form of moral development (a statement which would not necessarily be embraced by all cultures, particularly collectivist ones). In contrast to post-conventional thinkers like Martin Luther King Jr. who place ideals above their own welfare and the conventional laws of the land, some people (including those persons who facilitated atrocities like Eichmann and the Milgram subjects) uncritically follow orders and simplistically associate morality with adhering to rules in the conventional modality of thought; the Kitty Genovese bystanders even put their egotistic desire not to be involved above any moral obligation to others at all.