The tension between altruism and egoism

  The tension between altruism and egoism is one of the most important tensions in ethics. Philosopher and writer Ayn Rand was a passionate proponent of egoism, while philosopher Peter Singer has been a very strong proponent of altruism. Here are their main arguments in support of their positions: Rand Argument Every individual life has the highest value. Helping others for the sake of pure altruism diminishes that value, because it makes individual life miserable. Being selfish preserves and enhances that value Therefore, one should be an egoist rather than altruist. Singer argument We should prevent something bad from happening if that does not sacrifice something of a comparable moral value. Dying by starvation is bad. We can prevent many people from dying by starvation by scarifying our luxuries, which are not that important. Therefore, we ought to prevent people from dying by starvation by sacrificing our luxuries which are not that important. In your paper, describe the debate between altruism and egoism and support your description with references to the ideas of egoism and altruism in your readings. Then describe the debate between Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics and support it by references to your readings Finally analyze whether Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics would see Rand and Singer argument to be moral. Support your analysis with examples and good reasoning.