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6704 | Egoism submits to desires, but cannot help form them [Graham] |
Full Idea: Egoism is inadequate as a guide to good living. Though it tells us what to do, given pre-existent desires, it cannot help us critically form those desires. | |
From: Gordon Graham (Eight Theories of Ethics [2004], Ch.9) | |
A reaction: A crucial point in morality. It also applies to utilitarianism (should I change my capacity for pleasure?), and virtue theory (how should I genetically engineer 'human nature'?). I think these problems push us towards Platonism. See Idea 4840. |