The paradox (Joseph Butler, Sermon xi, para. 1. 9; Sidgwick, The Methods of Ethics, 7th edn., pp. 136, 403) that agents who consciously attempt to maximize their own pleasures are more likely to fail than those who have concerns for other things and other persons for their own sakes. See also prisoners' dilemma, self-defeating.
Philosophy dictionary. Academic. 2011.