Ethical Egoism What it Is and What it Is Not

Ethics and Nursing

One of the nurses you work with is an ethical egoist, should you report him to your nurses' supervisor? Why or why not?

This person should not be reported because the definition of what is meant by good has not been given. For example, Socrates could be considered an ethical egoist because he held the position that persons of intelligence always act in their own self-interest, i.e., for their own personal good, but what he meant by that was that they do good to others and to the spiritual being above them and in this manner do good for themselves. However, another person might define the good as something that gives any passing benefit whatsoever, such as pleasure or monetary gain -- and this concept of the good would not meet Socrates' approval, i.e., he would not call it good. Yet this same person might also identify as an ethical egoist. So it is important that the meanings and definitions and labels that we apply to ourselves and others be accurately assessed before they are reported (Ethical Egoism, n.d.).

In this case, I would suggest the nurse clarify what is meant by ethical egoist. If the nurse's opinion lines up more with Socrates then I would say there is no problem, because Socrates held a high opinion of the good. If, however, the moral principle that underlines the nurse's ethical egoism is relativistic rather than universal and objective (as was Socrates') then there may be a problem because that nurse might seek personal gain at the cost of others. In short, the behavior of the nurse should be monitored but no complaint should be made until these issues can resolved with more clarity.

2. Must the Utilitarianism to govern medicine and health care? Why?

Utilitarianism is another concept that needs the notion of the good to be clarified. In utilitarianism, the greatest good is believed to be that which benefits the common good of all (Bennett, 2010). It seeks a practical solution in this sense, one that is pragmatic, but defining what is the common good becomes a problem that the utilitarian alone cannot solve. He must appeal to other ethical models of a more transcendent nature. Some will appeal to a relativistic or subjective model while others will appeal to a universal, objective model and this will make all the difference. Doing that which is for the common good is a common sense approach to life and so in this sense utilitarianism is a good philosophy to govern medicine and health care. However, because differences of opinion as to what is good exist, especially among different cultures, it cannot alone be applied because some will not view certain actions as good for all, while others will.