The Virtue of Selfishness (World Philosophers and Their Works)
At a glance:
- Author: Ayn Rand
- First Published: 1964
- Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy
Context
The provocative title of Ayn Rand’s The Virtue of Selfishness matches an equally provocative thesis about ethics. Traditional ethics has always been suspicious of self-interest, praising acts that are selfless in intent and calling amoral or immoral acts that are motivated by self-interest. A self-interested person, in the traditional view, will not consider the interests of others and thus will slight or harm those interests in the pursuit of his or her own. Rand’s view is that the exact opposite is true: Self-interest, properly understood, is the standard...
[The entire page is 2610 words long]
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