Psychological Egoism

What is Psychological Egoism?

It's the idea that all human actions or motives are inherently self-interested even when performing acts of altruism. This is also an empirical claim about human motives and not what they ought to be. Not all self-interested actions are good or moral but they definitely can be if all human actions are self-motivated.

For example, you see a homeless man on the street, you don't like seeing the homeless suffer, you give him food and water, and while you help the man you are ultimately doing this to make yourself feel better. Helping others in such ways is ultimately motivated by some form of self-interest, such as non-sensory satisfaction, the expectation, the desire to gain respect or reputation, or for religious satisfaction. The helpful action is merely instrumental to these ultimately selfish goals.

Another example is when someone is drowning or in a car accident. We want to help this person drowning because there comes into play unconscious fear regarding our own safety. The suffering of another person is felt as a threat to our own happiness and sense of safety, because it reveals our own vulnerability to misfortunes, and thus, by relieving it, one could also ameliorate those personal sentiments or if they are someone related to us and not helping them could damage our happiness.

"Further, humans are not motivated to strictly avoid pain and only pursue pleasure, but, instead, humans will endure pain to achieve the greatest net pleasure. Accordingly, all actions are tools for increasing pleasure or decreasing pain, even those defined as altruistic and those that do not cause an immediate change in satisfaction levels." An example of this is the long-term benefits of  voluntary childbirth and raising a family.

This is also relatable to Adam Smith's Invisible Hand Argument that says self-interest in economic terms is not only good for yourself but ultimately good for the well-being of the community. Smith comes from an ethical egoism perspective where he never says that all human action is self-interested but we ought to be; at least in economic circumstances.

Some criticisms include that it's non-falsifiable, that it's an over examination of human motives and that people can be selfless and helpful just for the sake of being of selfless and helpful, and that if all people are self-interested then that takes away from someone's free will.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Psychological_egoism
http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/jcanders/Ethics/egoismhandout.htm
http://www.iep.utm.edu/psychego/
http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/pecorip/SCCCWEB/ETEXTS/ETHICS/Chapter_5_Teleological_Theories_Egoism/Psychological_Egoism.htm