On Morality and Self-Interest

Abstract

One of the oldest questions in the philosophical tradition regards the relationship between morality and self-interest. As human beings, we have prudential ends and motivations to which we are committed. However, we are also subject to moral norms and expectations, which often conflict with our prudential ends. It seems we face a contradiction: why should we be moral if it is not in our self-interest? Countless thinkers have tried to answer this question. I refer to their general endeavor as the "Reconciliation Project," which is a term borrowed from Gregory Kavka. Broadly, the goal of the Reconciliation Project is to reconcile the seemingly paradoxical concepts of morality and self-interest. The purpose of this paper is to explore and synthesize three unique approaches to the Project, so as to better understand them, and the human faculties of morality, self-interest, and rationality. The paper focuses namely on Kavka, Gauthier, and Schmidtz's approaches to the Project.