The Virtue of Selfishness

In his play Antigone, Sophocles shows the quality of “unshakable willpower” differently in each character through their behavior. He makes it clear to the audience that the character’s actions are either a virtue or a flaw. Creon, Antigone, and Haemon are characters who have differences, but are alike through their unshakable willpower. Creon is obstinate in his refusal to change his law and wants all of the people following through with his authority. Antigone’s constant willpower towards the burial

theories of Karl Marx. Adam Smith believed that if everyone behaves selfishly we are doing what is best for the economy of our society. This is what is known as “enlightened selfishness.” “Enlightened selfishness” is one of the main elements of capitalism. Profit is the motive for production of goods and greed is a virtue. You can own private property, but to maintain that private property you need capital to invest. Investing in something is always a risk. The larger the risk,

fact physical beauty is highly valued in society, it is not the driving factor when it comes to determining morality and making ethical judgments. To support this, I will be introducing Aristotle’s virtue ethics and David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature to demonstrate that beauty is independent of virtue and does

Professional Narcissism – Virtue of Flaw? Narcissism is known to be the pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one's own attributes. Psychologically, it is defined as extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one's own talents and a craving for all or any type of admiration, as characterising a personality type. Recently I got to thinking about Professional Narcissism. I started to ponder why Professional Narcissism is so much frowned upon and whether the

In psychology, altruism and egoism are two contrasting views on morality, one holding that one should value principles/actions that benefit others over oneself, the other holding that not only are we innately selfish species, but that selfishness is how one ought to act. While both theories of morality are prevalent throughout history and cultures around the world, I will be examining the two sides of egoism: physiological and ethical, and how these can be connected to altruism. These theories are

world that can easily be applied back to reality. In this paper, I will focus on the ethical issues presented in the film, the positive and negative changes characters undergo, unethical rationalizations shown by individuals as well as the business, virtues highlighted throughout, my personal reactions to scenes and the film as a whole, and how Monsters, Inc. has affected the way I approach ethical issues in business. Monsters, Inc. presents both personal and corporate ethical issues throughout the

is safe to say just like Charles Darwin, Hobbes is of the opinion that we as humans are just naturally driven by a self-serving component. Ayn Rand argued that rational egoism gives each person the right to live his own life and that “selfishness is a proper virtue to pursue”. Rand also continues to say that, “altruism is an evil doctrine.” Not just an irrational one or an evolutionary dead end one. So if Rand rejects the unselfish acts of individuals she would clearly also be in favour of option

you will discover that most of the things written about love are either pithy or cynical. Society in general can be cruel and heartless toward real virtue of any kind. In the most popular venues, love is seldom dealt with with any degree of sobriety. Modern humor mocks marriage, husbands and wives, then glorifies every conceivable breech of virtue, such as sexual immorality, profane and obscene values. Real love is a mystery to most people. Most people never realize the true potential or value

nature’s anxious breaths cannot be stifled with a series of synthetic laws that limit man’s ego, synonymous to ‘selfishness’ today. While the word ‘selfishness’ carries a negative connotation to most, to Rand, selfishness is good; to “redeem both man and morality, it is the concept of ‘selfishness’ that one has to redeem” (The Virtue of Selfishness, ix). She does not define selfishness as arrogance, but as the leading factor that will enable a man to title himself the king of his beliefs. Yet while

you have, whether it is money, possessions, or relationships, the more successful you are. The American value of achievement often results in selfishness, once described by William E. Gladstone as “the greatest curse of the human race” (William E. Gladstone quotes, 2010). Collectively, The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath demonstrate how selfishness breaks society, affecting both the individual as well as those around him, and how selflessness repairs it. Loneliness results from