Abstract

This chapter develops and defends a morally and epistemically significant distinction between selfishness and self-centeredness and identifies various ways in which we can be one without being the other. For example, one can act altruistically but see such actions as a reflection of one’s own extraordinary character or generous nature, which is self-centered. The chapter explores the implications of the oneness view for altruism and self-interest, arguing that there are respects in which the dichotomy is preserved and respects in which it is not under various conceptions of oneness. It goes on to argue that a non-self-centered model of moral motivation has notable advantages over the self-sacrificial model. This offers an opportunity to reflect on the real causes of moral failure, which more often are a consequence of self-centeredness than a lack of moral knowledge or insight.