Philosophy Café. Jonathan Way - Ethics Without Principles?

The latest in the popular Philosophy cafe series at the John Hansard Gallery saw Dr Alex Gregory talking about self interest. Alex researches the relationship between what we want and what we think is good, and has published on these issues. "It's clear that people sometimes do things for their own benefit: you might push ahead of other people to ensure you get a good seat on the train. Some philosophers have made the bolder claim that we always act out of self-interest. But is that true? What are the arguments for it? It might seem obvious that sometimes people act for the sake of others: for example, someone might offer to donate blood for the benefit of a complete stranger. But can such examples be explained away as ultimately self-interested?".