• Argue Karl Popper’s Falsification Is Not Possible Argument against Psychological Egoism. Add the supportive arguments which also show that falsification of Psychological Egoism is not possible.
o Strategy of Reinterpreting Motives.
o Confirmation Bias
o Circular Reasoning
• Argue that while Abe enjoyed saving the pigs that enjoyment does not necessarily mean he was selfish. Use Rachel’s “Feeling Good About Helping Others May Not Be Selfish” argument. This argument hinges on his assertion that when we act to achieve our objective and only feel pleasure after we achieve our objective is not the same as wanting to feel pleasure before we act so we only choose to help others to gratify our preexisting desire.
• Finally, use the Fallacy of the Suppressed Correlative Argument against Psychological Egoism using elements of the story about Abe Lincoln and the drowning piglets.
o Show how Lincoln’s actions, even if they were potentially a mixed bag of selfish and unselfish motivations, were still a refutation of psychological egoism. Remember that saving the pigs so they live after you travel down the road, saving the pigs so you can butcher and eat them, and ignoring the pigs and allowing them to drown are all more or less selfish, but never unselfish according to psychological egoists.
