Of the four ethical viewpoints we have examined, only egoism arises from valid metaphysical and epistemological premises; moreover, only egoism is consistent with the concept of good as developed earlier in this section (p. 3.2:2). Accordingly, the remainder of our discussion of ethics will be primarily concerned with the implications of egoism. Conventionally, however, altruism is most commonly regarded as the morally superior alternative among the four approaches. While egotistic and hedonistic behaviors can be widely observed, they are seldom upheld as moral ideals. Altruism, in contrast, has acquired a strong grip on popular belief systems and psychology, even though it is necessarily practiced only in an adulterated form (for reasons to be examined later). Therefore we shall need to continue to explore the implications of altruism. Indeed, we can deepen our understanding of egoism by contrast with its principal alternative of altruism.

In some situations, the egoist and the altruist may act in the same way, although from different ultimate motives. Furthermore, the same individual may act egoistically at some times and altruistically at others. Nevertheless, we can differentiate conceptually between the two ethical approaches, which lead to quite different consequences.