Monday, October 11, 2004

 

I don't know how many of you have read the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. In case you haven't please do so. According to me, its one of the best books I have ever read and the points covered are just too very helpful.

Anyways, for people who have read or at least are familiar with the concept of "Objectivism", I had a question for you all. Ayn Rand defines altruism as follows: "The basic principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue and value. The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute, is self-sacrifice--which means: self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction--which means: the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good" and she totally opposes it.

Could anybody elaborate on whether her point of view is correct, because the context in which she says it definitely makes it seem right. But if that's right and selflessness is nothing or even worse, evil, and selfishness is the way to go, what about all the talk of losing the "I" to succeed.

posted by vcd 6:16 PM