E’GOISM

as a philosophical doctrine, the view that the elements of all knowledge and the reality of the things known are dependent on the personal existence of the knower. This theory is also called Subjective Idealism or Solipsism. It maintains that his individual ego is the only being that a man can logically a ert to exist. As an_ ethical theory (practical egoism) it is the opposite of altruism. It maintains that the governing principle of conduct for the individual is his own good on the whole, and that self-interest is the basis of morality. Egoism is to be distinguished from egotism, which denotes the practice of putting forward or dwelling upon oneself, of thinking, talking, or writing about oneself.