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Ethics: Egoism
Egoism means "self"-ism, just as altruism means "other"-ism. Egoism means that a rational man acts in his self interest. That this is the moral choice. Altruism means that one acts, first and foremost, to further the interest of others. Objectivism views altruism as inherently evil. This is because man, as a matter of fact, like all living creatures, acts to further his own life. Altruism teaches man that his most basic imperative is evil, and thereby engenders in man an irredeemable guilt.

Objectivism views benevolence as a major virtue. It does not value self-interest, per se, but rational self-interest. Do you give a person money out of guilt? Objectivism sees this as a vice, and finds it reprehensible. Do you give a person money because that person represents a value of yours, and by giving him money, you are furthering that value? Objectivism sees this as benevolent and virtuous.
http://www.starways.net/lisa/essays/objectivism.html

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Rand's repudiation of altruism seems to be due to the unusual way that she defines the term. Her idea of altruism is that man must selflessly place the welfare of others above his own. A more common idea, however, is that altruism is a man's concern for or dedication to others' interests in addition to his own. Charity, compassion, and the desire to give pleasure to others can have their place in human relationships as long as they do not play a principal, determining role or are accomplished through the involuntary redistribution of individuals' wealth.
http://www.quebecoislibre.org/011124-15.htm

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Do you ask if it's ever proper to help another man? No - if he claims it as his right or as a moral duty that you owe him. Yes - if such is your own desire based on you own selfish pleasure in the value of his person and his struggle. Suffering as such is not a value; only man's fight against suffering, is. If you choose to help a man who suffers, do it only on the grounds of his virtue, of his fight to recover, of his rational record, or of the fact that he suffers unjustly; then your action is still a trade, and his virtue is the payment for your help. But to help a man who has no virtues, to help him on the ground of his suffering as such, to accept his faults, his need, as a claim - is to accept the mortgage of a zero on your values.

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If, in page after page of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, you show someone being heroic by ruthlessly setting feelings aside, and if you show someone being rotten and depraved by, in effect, diving headlong into his feelings and emotions, and if that is one of your dominant methods of characterization, repeated again and again, then it doesn't matter what you profess, in abstract philosophy, about the relationship of reason and emotion. You have taught people: repress, repress, repress.

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Would you believe that sometimes in therapy clients speak to me with guilt of their desire to be helpful and kind to others? I am not talking about manipulative do-gooders. I am talking about persons genuinely motivated by benevolence and good will, but who wonder whether they are "good objectivists."

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No - if he claims it as his right or as a moral duty that you owe him. Yes - if such is your own desire based on you own selfish pleasure

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Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead & her address to the graduating class of West Point "Philosophy: Who needs it?"

I'll ask again, do you have some support for your assertions that compassion and sympathy were regarded as immoral by Rand, or will you concede that you have invented this based upon her opinion on self-sacrificial, moralistic "altruism"?

It is not up to me to disprove your assertions, as you well know.    But just FYI:

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Roark's kindness to Mallory, marked by "understanding and respect" rather than any "secret pleasure" at the latter's agony, is portrayed as a genuine virtue. It is a moving scene of benevolence between human beings, one of many that occur in Rand's novels.

"Benevolence" means good will toward others. It is a positive attitude toward people in general, a desire for their well-being and for peaceful, cooperative relationships with them. It is contrasted with hostility, malice, envy, or other forms of malevolence. It includes such traits as kindness, generosity, sympathy, charity, and tolerance as elements. (In moral philosophy, these latter are sometimes called the "virtues of benevolence.")

The author of The Fountainhead and of Atlas Shrugged clearly regarded benevolence as a positive trait, an element in the proper relationships among men.
http://www.objectivistcenter.org/showcontent.aspx?ct=38&h=51

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MushmanTheManic said:

Icelander said:

MushmanTheManic said:

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Wisdom is measured by one's capacity to Be Compassionate.

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The older I become the truthier this seems. I view rational self-interest, to use objectivist terminology, as the symptom of a psychologically under-developed person. It seems that many people are selfish merely because they're not strong enough to be compassionate.

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I tell you this dude. Rational self interest is compassionate towards others. Irrational self interest is fear driven. It is certainly in my self interest to live in a compassionate world. To gain a bigger piece of the pie to protect myself at all costs is really not in my rational self interest as happiness is for sure a condition of my self interest.

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Rational self-interest cannot be compassionate towards others. To a person following Ayn Rand's ethics, compassionate behavior is merely a tool to use for your own selfish end. Doing something for the sake of another at the expense of yourself is considered ethically wrong.

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What she believes is that one should never sacrifice something held dearly for a triviality.

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