Self-interest plays no part in genuine morality

Plato says we act morally in order to achieve ‘psychic harmony’ in our minds. Acting immorally creates mental conflict between what we want to do and what we think it would be best thing to do, therefore we can know that our soul has a ‘desiring’ and a ‘rational’ part. We feel much better without these conflicts and worries. The only possible way to achieve happiness and peace in the mind is through reason. Desires never know what is good for our future. A happy soul is happy to accept the rule of reason and to restrict desires, which just cause chaos. For instance the desires of an immoral person are out of control, and deceive this person, as desires are not for what that particular person needs. Thus we do not feel what is in fact good for us because we think it is better to get everything we want, than acting morally. A virtuous person knows the values of morally right and wrong. And they are happier because reason tells them to do the right thing and they do not have mental conflicts. There is a very good example of how Mr Lincoln saved some pigs from drowning and as his fellow asked the reason of his act, he said: ‘I did it to get peace of mind, don’t you see?’
This argument is more convincing than the one from Kant but I do not agree with the claim that we should totally restrict our desires, as sometimes we still want to achieve the goals which are some of our desires but not immediately because we can think and decide whether it is really good for us or not. We can plan the way to our end by reasoning, and probably the goal will not be exactly what our desire is but our desires play a great role in what our aims are.

Aristotle argues that whatever we do, we do it in order to gain an end. The ‘ultimate end’ of all ends is the greatest good - eudaimonia which is translated as happiness or good fortune but its true meaning is ‘human flourishing’. For this aim we must practice like archers to hit the target. By practicing we improve our skills and become happy. We have moral virtues which are the qualities of our character, such as courage, liberality, temperance and modesty and we cultivate these by habit. We must create harmony between deficiency and excess to achieve virtuosity in the meaning if one is not enough courageous, then it is already cowardice and in the other way, if one is too courageous, it is called rashness. Aristotle also believed that virtuous behaviour could become a habit but we should never forget that we behave virtuously, because it is right. We know how virtuous we are by how spontaneous our reactions are in certain situations. Through being a virtuous person we want to reach eudaimonia. In this way it is in our self-interest to be moral in order to reach happiness and flourishing.

Sometimes we are not aware of acting morally or whether our moral act is self-interested or not or if a moral act is self-interested or not. For instance if our virtuosity has become a routine, or if it is our good will that makes us do something, we do not stop to think about our acts. Kant says it is impossible that self-interest plays part in morality. But in fact the way how he describes morality and our motivation, it is just slightly different from the other theories where self-interest can play part of morality. The difference is that Kant believes that self-interest is the same as selfishness.  On the other hand Aristotle and Plato know that self-interest does not necessarily mean selfishness.
It is in my self-interest indeed to be moral, because I want that; therefore I would not care being moral at all if it was not good for me or if it would not make me happy. As I am rational and I know morality helps more for me, my future and the other people. I also believe that everyone should accept morality and the fact that morality is important in order to have a stable society and a stable life. Whatever a person does, he has to be WILLING to that. If one has an aim, it means one want to reach it. It would be also foolish to question one’s act for the reason why one is doing it. He would say I do it because I want to do it!

As I concluded before I believe that self-interest plays a very important role in morality, because the only motivation why we are alive is the will to live and the will to do things, therefore it is in our self-interest to do so, but it does not mean that we are selfish.