Self-interest

An appeal to self-interest during World War II.

Self-interest generally refers to a focus on the needs or desires (interests) of the self. A number of philosophical, psychological, and economic theories examine the role of self-interest in motivating human action.

In philosophy

Philosophical concepts concerned with self-interest include:

• Enlightened self-interest, a philosophy which states that acting to further the interests of others also serves one's own self-interest.
• Ethical egoism, the ethical position that moral agents ought to do what is in their own self-interest.
• Hedonism, the school of ethics which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good.
  • Epicureanism, a philosophical system related to hedonism.
• Individualism, a philosophy stressing the worth of individual selves.
• Rational egoism, the position that all rational actions are those done in one's self-interest.

In psychology

Psychological concepts concerned with self-interest include psychological egoism, the view that humans are always motivated by self-interest, and narcissism, which is an unhealthy self-absorption due to a disturbance in the sense of self.

See also

Look up self-interest in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Altruism
• Egoism (disambiguation)
• Interest (disambiguation)
• Self (disambiguation)
• Selfish (disambiguation)