Abstract
This chapter will be first suggesting one possible way to clarify the distinction between greed and self-interest by defining greed normatively, focusing on certain acts and behaviors in our own socioeconomic context result in acquiring or maintaining more of a given good than one’s fair share at the expense of others’ needs. With this working definition in hand, I will then argue that in instances where we claim some good consequence has come from greed, we have reason to question who benefits from these consequences and who loses out. Despite the benefits enjoyed by some, if these benefits require many others to lose out than we should not so readily concede that greed is good.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
This is certainly an abbreviated discussion of cases of greed. I will turn to a more robust discussion in the latter portions of my paper.
- 3.
I should add the disclaimer here that is seems odd to suggest I am being especially greedy, or greedy in the same way as the hypothetical feudal lords or corporate executives. Perhaps if my coffee or banana were farmed or purchased by unfair means or means harmful to the environment, I am guilty of a subtler form of greed. I will return to this idea later in this paper.
- 4.
Nevertheless, some may argue that in fact, low-wage workers demanding a pay increase is in fact greedy. In suggesting a distinction between greed and more benign self-interest, I will be ruling out this case as a case of possible greed.
- 5.
The authors note that discussions of greed often are presented in a post-hoc fashion in psychological literature. And it is easy to see how this happens. Most of us are very comfortable using the term ‘greed’ despite the surrounding imprecision.
- 6.
As an interesting and related point, in the table of features cited, concepts related to self-interest were coded by the researchers as “selfishness”. Apparently coding all self-interested behavior as selfish seems akin to the misuses of the concepts of greed and self-interest I am tackling here. Disentangling this equation – selfishness and self-interest – has previously been masterfully done by Joel Feinberg in Psychological Egoism (Boston: Wadsworth 1965/2011).
- 7.
What I mean here is that we tend to need more details to make an accurate judgment for the legitimacy of self-interest as a justification. Certain factors like possible benefits or harms for others, the presence of other choices, the means used, etc. color our ultimate decision on the legitimacy of one’s self-interest as a justification.
- 8.
In the research by Seuntjens et al. (2014), the authors note that study participants consider greed to have both constructive and destructive outcomes. In the latter part of my paper, I will pressure the validity of positive aspects. For my purposes in this section though, I am not assuming these can be immediately discounted. However, even if there is the possibility of constructive outcomes brought about by greed, my suggestion is that we should still be skeptical of greed as a legitimate moral justification for one’s action.
- 9.
As noted above, “money” was the fifth most commonly cited feature of greed by the participants in the 2014 study conducted by Seuntjens and her co-researchers.
- 10.
We may also think perhaps I am being greedy toward my future self in acting on my present desire to consume an incredible number of doughnuts. What I am “taking” in this sense is perhaps better health; the immense intake of unhealthy foods in some way harms myself in the future. However, I am wary of over-expanding the category of actions and behaviors we can appropriately and accurately deem greedy. If I choose to eat unhealthily now and this comes at the expense of my future health, this may be greedy in some sense but may be more accurately described, for example, as imprudent. Fully investigating the most appropriate descriptor, though, may be more appropriate for a more expansive exploration of our use of evaluative and moral terminology.
- 11.
This is a brief discussion of need. However, a full discussion of need would be a full book-length treatment. By keeping this idea somewhat open, though, it allows room for others to make feasible arguments about what should be considered an instance of greed in this model. Perhaps there is a strong argument to be made that workers wanting a pay raise is in fact greedy. A proponent of such a position merely needs to make the account that wanting a pay raise somehow presents as an imbalance of need.
- 12.
Thank you to Alexander Hoffman for this example.
- 13.
Thank you to Dr. Mike Pritchard and Chance Lacina for this observation.
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Watson, C.M. (2021). Greed and Social Context. In: Pritchard, M.S., Englehardt, E.E. (eds) Everyday Greed: Analysis and Appraisal. Ethical Economy, vol 58. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70087-4_6
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