An Argument Against The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand

ideal: selflessness, or selfishness? Why? Ayn Rand’s novel The Fountainhead addresses these issues and her philosophy behind it called Objectivism. Her rebellious rhetoric is to convince us that the only true virtue is selfishness and that we should abide by its standards and live for ourselves. Ayn Rand was from the Soviet Union, and her background helps us to understand her rhetoric about why she preached her philosophy. “Born in Russia, and a hater of the revolution, Ayn Rand dreamed of America

not help others. “The benefit to others is not what makes the act right; the act is right because it benefits you.” A common misunderstanding with this theory is that an Ethical Egoist is egotistical Ethical egoism endorses selfishness, but not foolishness. The three main arguments of Ethical Egoism are altruism is self-defeating,

explain the relation between psychological egoism and ethical egoism. It will examine how someone who believes in psychological egoism explains the apparent instances of altruism. And it will discuss some arguments in favor of universal ethical egoism, and exam Pojman's critque of arguments for and against universal ethical egoism. Psychological egoism, a

In both Crito and The Virtue of Selfishness, the two philosopher authors make incredibly compelling and thought-provoking arguments concerning their extremely different moral codes. Socrates believed in a strict universal code of ethics that promoted compliance to authority and not causing harm to others under any circumstances. On the other hand, Ayn Rand believed in the pursuit of your own self-interest through rationality and reason. She also deliberately pokes holes in altruistic ideas, deeming

In this essay, I will argue against Ayn Rand’s argument in The Fountainhead and against the idea of normative egoism. Rand is mistaken in her claim that people should be self-interested. Self-interest is the “default,” but not the only root of all human action. Although it is innate, it is not right and has adverse effects on morality and on society. Proponents of psychological egoism claim that altruism is an impossibility. Rand claims that altruism is misled and destructive. These are both false

Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy   Volume 3, Number 1 (Winter 2003), pp. 1‐26 Ayn Rand and Contemporary Business Ethics    Stephen R. C. Hicks Introduction: business and the free society Advocates of the free society think of business as an integral part of the dynamic, progressive society they advocate. In the West, the rise of a culture hospitable to business has unleashed incalculable productive energies. Business professionals have taken the products of science and revolutionized

The Ethics of File Sharing Software Introduction The purpose of this paper is to discuss the ethical problem that file sharing software creates when used to transfer copy written material. It is contested that the very existence of this software promotes piracy. The paper will focus on the creators of the file sharing software, knowing that the user employs their product illegally. The software creators (Kazaa, Grokster, Morpheus, etc) are claiming that they cannot control what the

and Benefits of Genetically Modified Foods Ideally, the debate over whether or not to allow the widespread use of genetically modified products would take the form of a scientific cost-benefit analysis, in which the expected gains were weighed against the potential risks. In such a scenario, one would imagine that genetically modified products would then be divided into three categories: those whose proposed benefits clearly outweigh their possible dangers; those whose possible dangers clearly

cause of today 's economic inequality is the concept that wealth will trickle down from the top earners to everyone else with in a company, organization, or society. This concept has been popularized recently in American politics, but is an age old argument of