Atheists/Egoists/Secular Humanists?

Question

Question for you...
I'm an egoist.
Suppose you lose your wallet.
I find it. It has your ID, so I could easily return it.
I believe that it is to my benefit to keep the wallet, and having found it, that I am entitled to it.
If you feel the same way, don't bother answering.
If you believe that I have an ethical obligation to return your wallet to you, please tell me why.
Don't just tell me that it is the "right" thing to do. Keep in mind that since I'm an egoist, I think that the "right" thing to do is to preserve my best interests.

No, I don't feel guilty. I'm doing what is right in taking care of myself.
And keeping it for myself doesn't affect anyone else's social contract. No one will know, so the person who finds my wallet when I lose it will be just as likely to return it to me wether or not I keep the one I found.
Don't tell me why YOU would do it. I don't give a durn why you would. Tell me why I SHOULD.

This is wrong - "You should return it because it is in YOUR best interest to have a society where such losses are not perpetrated against you. "
Almost. It is actually in my BEST interests to have a society where such losses are not perpetrated against me, but where I perpetrate them on whoever I find convenient.

Please, people; don't tell me that it is in my best interests to return the wallet because it increases the chances that my wallet will be returned one day. That would be trading one big, enormous helping of good for me for one piddling little drop in the bucket of good for society, and gambling that it could someday come back to me. Not worth it.

Weak, Shaz. If I go by what you suggested (and it doesn't sound bad), then the reason I would return it would be because I will ultimately get more money and sex to boot. Not because it satisfies any ethical requirement, but because I will actually be serving myself BETTER that way. Yay!

Answer 1

Just give me back my damn wallet you selfish prick.

Answer 2

Well then if you believe it is the right thing to do to preserve your best interests then you should definitely return the wallet.. Yes I am sure you don't know what I mean by that so here goes.. You want to preserve your best interests right? Well is it not in your best interest that someone return your wallet if you lost it? Yes it is. Then how do you ensure or promote that happens? simple you make sure to do the exact same thing you would want someone else to do for you. Return the wallet, by doing so you set an example for others to do the same, thus it will be more likely that in the event you lose your wallet it is returned. We have to live the change we want to see, we have to promote the actions we want to be reciprocated.. If you have your best interest at heart, then you have to help teach others the same. I personally think it is the right thing to do to preserve goodness, pass it on and be an agent of change to others.. When someone like you who would keep a wallet they found, looses their and then has it returned they might think twice next time they find a wallet and remember how nice it was to have theirs returned, and thus return the favour for another.

Answer 3

It might well be to your benifit to keep it, but that isn't the issue really.
One, finding a wallet with identification in it and keeping it is considered theft, so you'd be leaving yourself potentially open to prosecution... if the cops ever stop harassing motorists.
Two, it might be to your benefit but then the wallet might contain the only money that person has. It equally might not be all the money they've got, but that's not your call.
Three. I can only assume you'd be mightily hacked off if you lost your wallet and less pleased to find out that it had been found but not handed in.
Finally, it's not an ethical thing to do to hand it back, it's unethical to keep it because on a very simple level, it does not belong to you whether you found it or not. You didn't recieve it as a gift or buy it yourself, therefore it is not your property.
I hope I never drop anything of mine where you can find it. Egoist is a seriously poor excuse for having 'flexible' morals.

Answer 4

Read Hobbes Leviathon. Should offer a few insights. But it basically runs that if you wish to act ina society then you must adhere to basic communal rules, because if you are egoist you can have no argument against everyone else doing the same. If you blieve it is in your best interests to be treated with respect then you should treat others the same way. The golden rule applies regardless of religion. It is demonstrable in both social reciprocity and pure logic, even from a solipsistic point of veiw.
Your treatement of others, assuming you regard them as equal (long long argument for another day), is in turn a justification for you being treated in exactly the same way. The logical and egoist thing to do therefore is to show respect and care.
Or not, but then I get to keep your wallet too.

Answer 5

You should return it because it is in YOUR best interest to have a society where such losses are not perpetrated against you. Basically it is to your benefit to have someone return your lost property and the best way to ensure this happening is to return the lost property of others to help establish a social norm
....because you are wrong..if you keep the wallet the person who it belongs to will be bitter and more likely to keep wallets he/she has found and encourage others to do so..hence creating a system where no one will return yours.

Assuming everyone will act socially responsible while you act socially irresponsible is short sighted, illogical, and just plain silly

I could happen to "find" your car somewhere and assume it is in my best interest to keep it and sell the parts...this would be bad for you...hence the egoist's is one of self punishment by endorsing a system of rationalized theft, corruption and insecurity.

ADD> Yes but again that is illogical and just plain silly. It would be to my benefit for everyone to live off sunlight and happy thoughts leaving me all the food and water in the world......but never gonna be that way in this space-time reality. And as we cannot escape this space-time reality..you must live in real world...not La-La Happy Fun Land.

ADD> OK that is how you can do it...it makes you a lousy person and hurts your benefit in long run (proving you don't understand short gain vs long benefit concepts). It increases chance that society will give you the boot...which vastly decreases your chances for survival....so go ahead and do what you are going to do and pay price...doesn't matter to me. Keep in mind..If I ever catch someone with my wallet I will beat him/her until I am fully satisfied or he/she is dead. Another thing for you to consider since no way you can guarentee no one will ever find you.


***One last thing. I did find a wallet once..it had money in it...I did go bring it back and return it with the money there. Now in gratitude the person gave me the money in the wallet and my girlfriend was so happy with me that in return she gave me the best sex of my life that night...it was crazy how amazing the sex was that night. So by giving it back and helping grease a gear that works to everyone's benefit I still got the money and one hell of a night of sex....It MORE than paid for itself.*** Think about THAT Ebenezer

Answer 6

I can't tell you what you should do, but if it were me, I would return the wallet. I would want someone to return my wallet if I lost it, and my conscience would never let me believe it's right to take it when I know full well it isn't mine. I find it unethical to do something I WANT (keeping the wallet) if it means doing something bad/harmful to someone else in the process.

Answer 7

It has nothing to do with right. It has to do with a social contract, morality.

Personally, I don't actually need the money. And I know I would prefer someone would return my lost things to me. So, logically, returning the wallet is the best option I have.

Edit: Sorry, we don't care why you do things. It's not our business to convince you to do something we would do. Have a nice day.

Answer 8

Civil law, as far as I know, would classify keeping it as theft.

I base my view of right and wrong on how it helps/hurts the individual, family, society, and world. Essentially theft, or keeping someone's possession hurts that member of society and ultimately can hurt yourself and family. In the case of a wallet, the damage is primarily to the one that lost it and potentially their family. In general cases of theft, society suffers as prices or insurance cost are increased and there is a greater lack of trust.

A side note, you are asking a question that is more appropriately determined by an individual's moral system not their lack of belief in god...

Answer 9

It would be in your best interest to return the wallet. The best way to preserve your best interests is to not focus on instant gratification and to remember that you are not the only person on the planet, and you live bigger community that most think. Everyone wins when everyone works together. Sounds utopic, and unrealistic...but that's ultimately the only way to keep in mind one's best interests.

.

Answer 10

i return the wallet....just because i get a better feeling of inner orgasm for someone else thinking i'm a pimp for giving them back their wallet, than i get out of $28 dollars.

even if i take the money, i still return the wallet. i've lost a wallet and it sucks. cancelling credit cards, getting new credit cards, having all of your direct withdrawals backfire on you, waiting in lines at the DMV....it sucks. if i return your wallet, you are more likely to return my wallet when i lose it.

i am NOT going to use your credit cards because that is getting me into too much hot water.

Answer 11

You would have nothing to gain in keeping my wallet. In returning my wallet you would gain peace of mind. For that peace of mind, as a Utilitarian Atheists, I would return the wallet.