Rational egoism (also called rational selfishness) is the principle that an action is rational if and only if it maximizes one's self-interest. As such, it is considered a normative form of egoism, though historically has been associated with both positive and normative forms. In its strong form, rational egoism holds that to not pursue one's own interest is unequivocally irrational. Its weaker form, however, holds that while it is rational to pursue self-interest, failing to pursue self-interest is not always irrational.
Originally an element of nihilist philosophy in Russia, it was later popularised in English-speaking countries by Russian-American author Ayn Rand.
Rational egoism (разумный эгоизм) emerged as the dominant social philosophy of the Russian nihilist movement, having developed in the works of nihilist philosophers Nikolay Chernyshevsky and Dmitry Pisarev. However, their terminology was largely obfuscated to avoid government censorship and the name rational egoism explicitly is unmentioned in the writings of both philosophers. Rational egoism was further embodied in Chernyshevsky's 1863 novel What Is to Be Done?, and was criticised in response by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in his 1864 work Notes from Underground. For Chernyshevsky, rational egoism served as the basis for the socialist development of human society.
English philosopher Henry Sidgwick discussed rational egoism in his book The Methods of Ethics, first published in 1872. A method of ethics is "any rational procedure by which we determine what individual human beings 'ought'—or what it is 'right' for them—to do, or seek to realize by voluntary action". Sidgwick considers three such procedures, namely, rational egoism, dogmatic intuitionism, and utilitarianism. Rational egoism is the view that, if rational, "an agent regards quantity of consequent pleasure and pain to himself alone important in choosing between alternatives of action; and seeks always the greatest attainable surplus of pleasure over pain".
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Covers the characteristics, applications, and challenges of intelligent agents in software systems, emphasizing their role in making autonomous decisions and coordinating with other agents.
The course traces the recurring reemergence of a rational approach in design and building form throughout the history of Western architecture, from the Middle Ages to the late 20th century.
Le projet de sauvegarde et le projet dans l'existant font partie d'une discipline culturelle constituée qui élargit le projet d'architecture contemporain.
Le projet de sauvegarde et le projet dans l'existant font partie d'une discipline culturelle constituée qui élargit le projet d'architecture contemporain.
Enlightened self-interest is a philosophy in ethics which states that persons who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to which they belong) ultimately serve their own self-interest. It has often been simply expressed by the belief that an individual, group, or even a commercial entity will "do well by doing good". The term enlightened self-interest has been criticised as a mere ideological or semantic device of neoclassical economic theory to justify this type of behaviour.
In ethical philosophy, altruism (also called the ethic of altruism, moralistic altruism, and ethical altruism) is an ethical doctrine that holds that the moral value of an individual's actions depends solely on the impact of those actions on other individuals, regardless of the consequences for the actor. James Fieser states the altruist dictum as: "An action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone except the agent.
Self-interest generally refers to a focus on the needs or desires (interests) of one's self. Most times, actions that display self-interest are often performed without conscious knowing. A number of philosophical, psychological, and economic theories examine the role of self-interest in motivating human action. Individuals may have a self-serving bias towards their self-interest. 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.
A plethora of real world problems consist of a number of agents that interact, learn, cooperate, coordinate, and compete with others in ever more complex environments. Examples include autonomous vehicles, robotic agents, intelligent infrastructure, IoT de ...
EPFL2022
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The use of punching shear reinforcement is currently considered as one of the most convenient practices to enhance the punching shear strength and deformation capacity of slab-column connections in flat slabs. Intensive research has been performed in the l ...
Fédération Internationale du Béton (fib)2021
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Local nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations of tokamak plasmas demonstrate that turbulent eddies can extend along magnetic field lines for hundreds of poloidal turns when the magnetic shear is very small. By accurately modeling different field line topologies ...