午夜剧场

Recently, "altruism"—aiming for the benefit of others—has become something of a trend, with many books published featuring "altruism" in their titles. While it is certainly a good thing that altruism is trending, it also suggests that "selfishness"—aiming for one's own benefit—has become the norm in the modern era. However, looking back at history, selfishness was strictly admonished in ancient and medieval times. So, when and how did selfishness become the norm? This book clarifies this by tracing the debates of modern British moralists (moral philosophers).

In modern Britain, moralists engaged in debates regarding self-interest (self-love). Thomas Hobbes, who laid the foundations of modern political society, believed that humans are inherently selfish, but many moralists opposed Hobbes, arguing that humans are also inherently altruistic. However, far from denying self-interest, they generally affirmed it, and some even emerged who sought to justify it. For example, Bernard Mandeville, an early commentator on modern economic society, argued that self-interest brings benefits to society, and Adam Smith, famous as the father of economics, argued that in a free society, individual interests and social interests coincide. Furthermore, the moralists who criticized Hobbes, Mandeville, and Smith also contributed to the justification of self-interest by viewing it as something rational or by advocating for the harmony between self-interest and altruism (benevolence). This is how selfishness became the norm in modern Britain.

This debate took place among modern British moralists. However, considering that Britain led the modern era, that Hobbes and Smith had a major influence on the formation of modern society, and that modern society is connected to our society today, the significance of this debate is important. In the present day, where selfishness has become the norm, in order to prevent altruism from ending as a mere passing trend, it is necessary to reconsider selfishness based on this debate.

Hisanori Tsuge

午夜剧场 Mita Philosophy Society Series

106 pages, 770 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.