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Title: Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0-451-16393-1 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: July, 1989 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.59 (103 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Individualism and self-interest lead to an enlightened world
Comment: Far from offering an excuse to be wantonly self-interested, Rand compels the reader to understand the difference between irrational whim and reasoned self-interest. This book is no primer for the would be hedonist. Rather, it is a call to anyone who seeks to find and honest and rational lens through which to view the modern world.
The reader is advised to persevere through the initial chapters as the author lays out the case for why she wrote the book. Once a foundation for discussion has been laid, you are exposed to Ms. Rand's clarity of thought and visionary understanding of the times we live in. The book is peppered with references to "today" (meaning the early 1960's when the book was written) that sound like they were written TODAY!
This book would also benefit anyone who seeks to understand the Objectivist philosophy that is the basis for Ayn Rand's two monumental novels, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.
I plan to read it over and over, until I have it committed to heart.
Rating: 5
Summary: Review of the Book, not the Ideas
Comment: I am writing, ostensibly, to provide you with some information regarding the book, in order that you may make a more rational decision as to whether you will purchase it.
Rand is often provocative, and mention of her/and or her philosophy can create instant dichotomies. I will not, in this review, critique the ideational content of her work. I offer this review with some "objective", pardon the pun, criticism.
1. This work offers a concise, fairly complete philosophy (which you may or may not agree with), from the essential and foundational steps, to their eventual results in daily life. This complete-package approach is an interesting window into her philosophy. Several issues could have been explored in more detail surely, but this collection of essays acts primarily to spark thinking on behalf of the reader.
2. Her philosophy is a shocking alternative to the present implicity accepted norms in society. Her counter-arguments to both traditional and contemporary systems of ethics are interesting and worth consideration, even if you eventually endeavour to refute them.
3. This work presents profound ideas in rather straightforward text. Topics include: ethics metaphysics politics values comments on contemporary trends in philosophy comments on ethical relativism
4. This work provides some insight into the breadth and depth which simple assumptions may have on daily life. Rands ideas, and those she illustrates for purposes of refutation, are extrapolated from basic intellectual concepts to day-to-day effects on human life. This concept-to-consequence style of writing offers a holistic perspective that can easily be applied to the work of other philosophers. For this reason I suggest this book to students of philosophy to gain a perspective of the impact of philosophical ideas.
5. Finally, this is perhaps the most succinct and most accessible of Rand's works, and a reading of it should allow sufficient insight into the body of her thought to understand her stance on several issues. If you are looking for a 'summary of Rand', this is the book I would suggest.
Rating: 5
Summary: The best ethical formulation in the history of philosophy.
Comment: Many years ago while discussing the Chrysler bail-out with two colleagues, they mentioned that Lee Iacoca, in pursuing the government action, was pursuing his "self-interest". The discussion on government interference in economic matters interestingly took place in the context of a debate on the contents of this book. Listening to me defend its concept of self-interest and why I thought humans should indeed pursue their self-interest, they seem perplexed that I was objecting vociferously to the Chrysler bail-out. After all, was not Lee Iacoca pursuing his self-interests when he arranged the government bail-out?
This conversation, done with two people who are now fairly well-known philosophers, illustrates the deep bias surrounding the concept of self-interest. The fact that Lee Iacoca thought he was pursuing his self-interest in arranging the bail-out does not mean that it really was in his self-interest. If a person is lost in a forest and starving, and then spots a mushroom he/she believes is nutritious but in fact is poisonous, are we to accept that the eating of the mushroom is in the person's interest? The fact that we believe something is in our interest does not make it so.
The author of this book makes a brilliant case for the ethics of self-interest, with this concept being rooted in the organism's identity. It is the characteristics of the organism that determine what is good or bad for it. Ethical values arise when the organism can exhibit choice over a collection of alternatives, and is distinctly self-aware of these choices. And due to the complexity of both the organism and the environment, the context will determine the choices available to the organism. An Eskimo in the Artic North certainly faces different choices than an individual living in the jungles of the Amazon. In addition, because the organism is not omniscient, the choices made may act to the organism's detriment. Adaptation takes time, and the organism will suffer or even die if bad choices are made.
Organisms with a self-awareness of choices, or moral agents, are thus governed by what characteristics they possess, and the environments in which they find themselves. The author of this book argues brilliantly for a morality of self-interest, and her care and skill in elucidating the concept of self-interest and ethics in general, makes this book the best formulation of ethics in the history of philosophy. In addition, the book could be read in the context of modern theories of rational agents, both in philosophy and the field of artificial intelligence.
The author has defined "rationality" in a manner quite different from what the word stands for in economic theory, the latter of which views it as a descriptive concept. If a person is labeled as "rational" in economic theory, it means that the person is attempting to optimize his self-interest, regardless of the facts that might indicate otherwise. "Rational" for the author is quite different. What the author is saying, and is most profound, is that many of the actions that have been taken as an excuse for self-interest, such as lying, deception, and violence, are indeed never in one's interest. To label a human as "rational" in her view, is to characterize the person as one who is optimizing their self-interests, but these interests, because of the nature of the biology of humans, and the nature of the human psyche, never involve lying, deception, and violence. This is a bold and interesting move in ethical theory, and differentiates the author's formulation from most others in the history of philosophy.
The ethical doctrines of this author are also intimately related to what science can tell us what indeed is in the interest of organisms, in order for them to optimize their health and general well-being. Most refreshing though is that this formulation of ethics is exceedingly optimistic. It asks the reader to consider that rationality, productiveness, and pride are the virtues of self-interest. Plundering, violence, cheating, and deception never are. With its emphasis on the power of the human mind and its efficacy, it is certainly a philosophy that meshes will with our time. Even though written down over four decades ago, its optimism coupled with its practicality makes it pure 21st century.
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Title: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451147952 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: July, 1986 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff ISBN: 0451191145 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $8.99 |
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Title: Philosophy: Who Needs It by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451138937 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: April, 1985 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: For the New Intellectual by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451163087 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: March, 1984 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: We the Living by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451187849 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: January, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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