Self-Interest

<p><em>Self-Interest</em> discusses the reconciliation of inevitable self-concern with its manifest potential for harm. This anthology brings together the efforts of twenty three renown philosophers to address the matter of how to bring about such a reconciliation. The drive for self-preservation, as observed by Aquinas, is the first law of nature. With this self-love, however, comes the threat of "the excessive love of self". <em>Self-Interest</em> brings into discussion the reconciliation of necessary self-concern with its manifest potential for harm.<br> This anthology brings together the work of twenty-three important philosophers to address the question of how to bring about such a reconciliation. Contributors include: Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine of Hippo, Aquinas,Hobbes, Nicole, Mandeville, Butler, Hutchenson, Hume, Smith, Kant, Bentham, Mill, James, Nietzsche, Dewey, Rand, and Gauthier.</p> Introduction; Part I Classical Era; Chapter 1 Plato (427 – 347 B.C. ); Chapter 2 Aristotle (384–322 B.C.); Chapter 3 Epicureanism; Chapter 4 Stoicism; Part II Medieval Era; Chapter 5 Augustine of Hippo (354–430); Chapter 6 Thomas Aquinas (1224–1274); Part III Early Modern Era; Chapter 7 Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679); Chapter 8 Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677); Chapter 9 Bernard Mandeville (c. 1670–1733); Chapter 10 Joseph Butler (1692–1753); Chapter 11 Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746); Chapter 12 David Hume (1711–1776); Chapter 13 Adam Smith (1723–1790); Chapter 14 Immanuel Kant (1724–1804); Part IV Nineteenth Century; Chapter 15 Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832); Chapter 16 John Stuart Mill (1806–1873); Chapter 17 Henry Sigwick (1838–1900); Chapter 18 William James (1842–1910); Chapter 19 Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900); Part V Twentieth Century; Chapter 20 John Dewey (1859–1952); Chapter 21 Ayn Rand (1905–1982); Chapter 22 David Gauthier (b. 1932);