Suppose two prisoners are brought in for questioning. Both are suspected of being involved in the same crime (and, in fact, both were involved in the crime). The police officers doing the questioning put the two men (call them 'Bill' and 'Al') in separate rooms and attempt to get one or both to confess to the crime. They do this by presenting the possible ways things might turn out.
One confesses but not the other - $100,000 and no jail time to the person who confesses, 15 years to the other person
Both confess - 3 years each
Suppose you also know that Al is also looking out only for himself. What should you do?
The Moral: Even if people are entirely self-interested, they can still end up acting in apparently moral ways.
Some philosophers have claimed that humans are entirely self-interested creatures and so that we should think about morality along the lines suggested by the Prisoner's Dilemma.
Psychological Egoism: The view that people always act so as to promote their perceived self-interest.[Philosophy 1200]Is Psychological Egoism correct?