Ethical Egoism is Destroying Society

Case Study Replies

Joseph

I think the skepticism described by Herring (1936) for one’s own government is normal—but nearly a century later I feel a lot of people’s skepticism is probably justified. Maybe it is a result of growing up in the shadow of Orwell’s books Animal Farm and 1984. Or maybe it’s the fact that we’ve seen through the decades what governments are capable of doing, how special interests control them, and how propaganda and lies are used to twist narratives and get the public believing in something false to justify some action that the government wants to take—like the invasion of Iraq after 9/11. There are literally no ethical frameworks guiding the various intelligence agencies, from the CIA to the FBI, and so on (Fabre, 2022). That presents a problem—as the rest of society at least tries to apply the ethics of deontology or consequentialism or even virtue ethics at times. Yet ethical egoism prevails in my opinion, in both society and in government, and that is what causes big problems for public administration and society as a whole.

Ethical egoism is the belief that each person should act in their own best interests. While this may seem like a reasonable stance to take, it can actually lead to some problems. First, it can encourage people to be selfish and manipulative, as they will only be looking out for themselves—and that is a big problem in public administration (just look at the Nixon Administration, for instance). This can make it difficult for trust to form, for people to cooperate and work together, and for the common good to prevail in society (Plant, 2018). Furthermore, ethical egoism can lead people to justify immoral actions, such as lying or cheating, nepotism, or bribery, if they believe that it will benefit them in some way. As a result, ethical egoism is often seen as a problematic ethical theory—but it can nonetheless be found far too often as the ethical foundation in modern public administration. The Bible is clear on this matter, though: “May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you” (Psalm 25:21).

References

Fabre, C. (2022). Spying through a Glass Darkly: The Ethics of Espionage and Counter-

Intelligence. Oxford University Press.

Herring, E. P. (1936) The study of public administration In. J. M. Shafritz, & A. C. Hyde

(Eds.) (2016). Classics of public administration (8th ed., pp. 101–104). Cengage Learning.

Plant, J. F. (2018). Responsibility in Public Administration Ethics. Public Integrity,

20(sup1), S33-S45. https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2017.1413927

Devon

I agree that an ethic of neutrality is more of an ideal than a reality. The problem for public administration with regard to ethics is that public administration is really a reflection of the ethics of the culture of the people being served. If the people have lost all sense of ethics, how can a public administration have any sense of it? I think for this reason that Plant (2018) is on the right track in tracing the history of public sector ethics transitioning, but it is really society itself that has been descending into a stagnant, self-centered pit of ethical egoism, which robs one and all of any chance of objective or universal sense of duty or virtue (Wijaya, 2020).

The field of public administration is charged with the responsibility of carrying out the policies and laws of society. As such, it must always act in accordance with the ethical standards that society has established. This is a problem when society establishes ambiguous rules and justifications stemming from ethical egoism. By adhering to such principles, public administrators help to ensure that government always acts in self-centered ways. In turn, this destroys trust in the government and its ability to serve the people. Without such confidence, it is be difficult for society to function effectively.