The Virtue of Selfishness

The Chinese Philosopher and originator of Taoism, Lao Tzu, once said, “Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained.” At the root of this goodness Tzu speaks of are the virtues of compassion and integrity. In the wake of humanity’s inherent brokenness, our tragic disposition towards an evil nature, true goodness seems something only dreamed of. However, if one is to look past humanity’s sinister nature, a deeper, much more

The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand looks in depth at the word selfishness in the perspective of morals. Rand identifies selfishness as a concept of the survival which directly relates to moral issues and whether they are related to good and evil. A new word “altruism” is introduced by Rand to pose two moral questions, “(1) What are values? (2) Who should be the beneficiary of values? (Rand 169).” The selfishness in relation to morals to benefit themselves and not others is the selfishness and

advocate selfishness, as well as having a logical, rational thought process. Rand had written many volumes that encouraged people to be selfish. In the opinion of Rand, the definition of a selfish act is a person following reason. Also, he earns authentic self-esteem for himself and chases his own happiness as his important righteous aim. Ayn wrote that people should “seek a noble vision of man’s nature and of life potential”. That was Ayn Rand’s philosophy (Intro Objectivism). Virtue of Selfishness

In her book The Virtue of Selfishness, Ayn Rand states, “An organism’s life is its standard of value: that which furthers its life is the good, that which threatens it is the evil." While such a definition may be sufficient to an atheist, to Catholics it is unacceptable. Ayn Rand’s definition is a purely physical one. As Catholics we believe that we are not merely corporeal, but spiritual beings as well. Therefore our standard of value cannot be limited to our natural, biological life, but must

In "The Virtue of Selfishness" Ayn Rand argues that self-interest is the norm of ethics. Perhaps the strongest argument Rand gives for this claim relies on the argument that it is up to every individual to decide what values his or her life needs. Since it is important to know what morals one should have, or if one should even have any. In this paper I will argue that this argument fails because a self-interested person will belittle the interests of others for their own good, therefore damaging

The title of Ayn Rand’s book is the virtue of selfishness. According to the Webster Dictionary, virtue is a particular moral excellence. To have virtue is to follow a specific area of moral excellence or standard; based on this definition, throughout the introduction of her book, Rand discusses the moral excellent aspects of selfishness, and works to dispel the negative connotations associated with the word selfishness. Rand begins by discussing the popular usage of the word selfish and then she

that has common goals and agreed upon virtues because everyone will be an equal, have the same level of education and have justice. However, there are shortcomings and dangers in a society like that, such as human greedy nature, communism could potentially occur, and humans could change the way they potentially feel about their goals and virtues. Finally, there will be difficulties with a society focused exclusively on the individual like the act of selfishness, arrogance and neglect to those surrounding

respect, admiration, are the emotional response of man to the virtues of another.” it means members can have friends and be in love (selfishness31), but there are rules to it like Ayn Rand says, “only a brute or an altruist would claim that the appreciation of another man’s person’s virtue is an act of selfishness.” That quote claims that can’t claim one man or woman’s virtues for your own that you both must be in love (selfishness 31). When Equality makes light and electricity, he becomes selfish

Many would say it was Jesus Christ. Regardless of what you think of his divinity, Jesus is the embodiment of western moral virtues, that is undeniable from my perspective. And yet, his life was anything but physically or mentally pleasing. In fact, much of his journey involved putting himself through great suffering for the sake of others. For the sake of others is a significant

Theory of Virtue Self-love has the “I” factor as a predominant that rules the actions of an individual. It comes from connecting the soul to one’s true self whereby an individual allows his inner light to shine in order to attract other human beings to have a close relationship with him wholeheartedly. Self-love comes with the acceptance of every kind of our lives and others the way they are. It is one of the most challenging aspects in our lives. It is, therefore, very important that human beings