Objections to psychological egoism

The most obvious objection to psychological egoism is that there are numerous clear examples of people putting others' interests before their own.

Although psychological egoists think they can explain seemingly virtuous actions, their theory rests on a false account of human motivation. The fact that someone feels virtuous after performing a good deed may be true, but it is often just a side effect of their action. They didn't necessarily do it in order to get those feelings.

• It satisfies our preference for simplicity. In science, we favour theories that explain several phenomena by showing them to all be controlled by the same force. Newton's theory of gravity gives one principle to explain a falling apple.
• It offers a seemingl...