I think that I have to disagree about your comments on smoking and a person's self-interest. It seems to me that smoking is only against your self-interest if you desire to be healthy and if it is true that smoking is unhealthy. To say that smoking is without exception against one's self-interest (now you did not say "without exception" so maybe I am being unfair here but I think that something along those lines is what you meant) is similar to Foot's thought that deep roots are good for an oak tree and I think that it faces the same problems.
Imagine that in ten years time air pollution becomes such a problem that people are barely able to live past their thirties. However, there is one demographic that is an exception to this grim fate: smokers. The tar build up in one's lungs that is caused by smoking also serves to prevent the harmful toxins in the polluted air from entering one's bloodstream and thus causes the smokers to live longer than the non-smokers. Of course smokers still face the same health problems down the line that they do now, but nevertheless despite these problems they still live longer than non-smokers.
Clearly, in this case smoking would not be bad for you and in fact would seem to be good for you if you wanted to be healthy (or maybe as healthy as possible is what I should say here or maybe just to live as long as possible, regardless I am sure you see what I mean). The point here is that there is nothing intrinsically good or bad about smoking but it is only good or bad it relation to its effect on ones health. Yet, if this is true, then I think that the same can be said of health (i.e. maybe consistently doing the right thing has a negative effect on one's health for example). It is considerations such as these that make me think that one's self-interest can not be understood independently of one's desires.
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Aaron - Good example. But your argument needs two premises (as you say): smoking is not healthy and you desire health. You are right I think that there might be circumstances in which it could be in ones interest to smoke. (Different case: In a totalitarian state is might be a sign of party loyalty to smoke as much as the Great Leader. Those who don't end up in jail.) There could even be circumstances in which it was in your interest not to be healthy (if, say, only the healthy are sent to the front to fight). But I still don't see how this depends on you wanting to be healthy. How could it be against your interest to live a long healthy life, even if you don't want to (are depressed say)?
So even though I agree with your example I don't see how that supports the point that self-interest depends on what one wants.
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