Self-Centeredness versus Self-Regard

The Stoic distinction between egocentric self-centeredness (passion, pathē) and rational self-regard (Oikeiosis) as a fundamental ethical differentiation.

The Stoics rejected selfish egoism not because self-love is wrong, but because vulgar egoism confuses it with self-centeredness. Oikeiosis is rational self-love that is at the same time universal; it defends the self through reason and extends it into the community. Self-centeredness, by contrast, is the irrational over-emphasis of the ego at the expense of the whole — and ultimately self-destructive, since it runs contrary to nature.