Egoism

Etymology

Forms

• Ethical egoism, the doctrine that holds that individuals ought to do what is in their self-interest
• Psychological egoism, the doctrine that holds that individuals are always motivated by self-interest
• Rational egoism, the belief that it is rational to act in one's self-interest

• Egotism, an excessive or exaggerated sense of self-importance
• Solipsism, the belief that only one's self exists, or that only the experiences of one's self can be verified
• Egoist anarchism, a form of anarchism, as most often represented by Max Stirner
• Egocentrism, lack of emotional obligation to "put oneself in other peoples' shoes"

  Philosophers who developed philosophical systems of egoism

• Friedrich Nietzsche
• Ayn Rand
• Arthur Desmond as Ragnar Redbeard
• Max Stirner, whose views were described by John F. Welsh as "dialectical egoism"
• James L. Walker, who independently formulated an egoist philosophy before himself discovering the work of Stirner.