The paper argues against accounts of self-interest which identify an agent’s self-interest with what the agent most wants to do, all things considered. On such an account any act which is voluntary and informed is thereby in the agent’s self-interest. But self-sacrifice requires that the act be voluntary, informed and contrary to the agent’s self-interest. Thus accepting the above account of self-interest would render the concept of self-sacrifice incoherent by making it logically impossible that there ever be genuine instances of self-sacrifice.
