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The Virtue of Selfishness

3.38 of 5 stars 3.38 · rating details · 6,553 ratings · 238 reviews

Ayn Rand here sets forth the moral principles of Objectivism, the philosophy that holds man's life--the life proper to a rational being--as the standard of moral values and regards altruism as incompatible with man's nature, with the creative requirements of his survival, and with a free society.

Paperback, 176 pages

Published November 1st 1964 by Signet (first published 1961)

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Aug 14, 2012 Manny marked it as to-read

Just noticed this in Johan Hari's column from today's Independent:

Trump probably won't become the Republican nominee, but not because most Republicans reject his premisses. No: it will be because he states these arguments too crudely for mass public consumption. He takes the whispered dogmas of the Reagan, Bush and Tea Party years and shrieks them through a megaphone. The nominee will share similar ideas, but express them more subtly. In case you think these ideas are marginal to the party, reme

...more

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Sep 26, 2007 Gene Wagendorf III rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Those with conficts of interest/morality

Shelves: non-fiction

I didn't really get this book when I first read it, but having read it multiple time since, it's become like a bible. Rand outlines her Objectivist philosophy and explains the concept of rational self-interest. This book will turn you into an asshole once you read it, someone will smack you, you'll read it again, pick up the part everyone misses (about morality being intrinsic, not non-existent) and then you'll live a happier, more whimsical life.

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Aug 02, 2007 jessica rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book once meant a lot to me. When I was 15. If anything written by Ayn Rand means a lot to you and you're not going through adolescence, you should be ashamed of yourself. Yeah, I know I sound like a self-righteous douchebag, but seriously. Give me a break.

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Jul 13, 2008 Shea rated it 2 of 5 stars

I could write an entire dissertation on the inconsistencies of Rand's philosophy and the arguments she makes, but I'll behave and limit myself to just one criticism: she flagrantly disregards the meaning of the term "ethics" and argues that a purely "selfish" approach (i.e. one that is concerned only with one's self) is not only a rational thing to do, but it is, in fact, an ethical approach to take.

The first part of her argument does make sense if you boil rationality down to a purely biologica...more

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Jun 30, 2008 Ibrahim rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

This woman, Ayn Rand, is more bizarre than bizarre can ever be! Who in the big, wide world would be in his right mind and still write a book to praise selfishness?! As if to be self-centered needs to be praised or called even virtuous! And she calls that philosophy! But with that spirit in which she praises selfishness you will find that a common theme in all of her writings. Look at Emmanuel Levinas,a real philosophers who never ceases to assure us that the "others" are we and for others we are...more

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Apr 12, 2009 Eric_W rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: philosophy

Ayn Rand was not afraid of turning conventional wisdom on its head. For millennia, one of the few ethical principles that prevailed across cultures was the value of altruism, i.e. , giving up your life for the benefit of others. Rubbish, writes Rand.

Rand was as anti-community and pro-individual as anyone I have ever read. Adamantly opposed to coercive state and religious power, she built a philosophy, Objectivism, on rational thinking and reason. She became too dogmatic and rigid for my taste in...more

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May 23, 2008 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Altruism ain't all its cracked up to be.

Although she tends to take things a bit too far, Rand touches on an often overlooked point of life: we are the ones best-equipped to care for ourselves. It is a wonderful and necessary aspect of humanity when we chose to show charity and care for others, but when is it appropriate to sacrifice ourselves for the well-being of another? You would jump into a rushing river to save your child, but would you do the same for an elderly stranger? A young stranger?...more

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Jun 16, 2008 Mary.dooms rated it 5 of 5 stars

The best thought I embraced from this book was a simple, yet powerful, soundbite: "A plant will not destroy itself, but man will".

Towards the end of the school year, a couple of kids in class had some serious self-destructive behavior--not just your run-of-the-mill, "I didn't do my homework." I dropped math for the day and we had an outstanding class discussion about how a plant will grow around a rock to seek light, and that roots grow deep to seek water--doing everything it can to sustain itse...more

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Apr 03, 2013 SandraH rated it 1 of 5 stars

I read this book when I was a teenager and it made sense then. I needed a kick in the pants to get my "individual self-interest" started. I needed to see the world as an arena where I could jump in and succeed. I needed to engage in a discussion about values that questioned faith, intuition, tradition, and instinct that put all human endeavor on a level playing field.

A decade or so later, I read that she was buried with a six-foot-tall floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign beside her...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Kyle Pratt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

The Virtue of Selfishness is a provocative title and so are the ideas that Ayn Rand discusses in the book. Rand remains a popular fiction author, but less well known, and less understood, is her philosopher side. She did not write fiction to entertain, she wrote to convince her readers of of philosophical truth as she understood it.

Ayn Rand set her own course in life and opposed both Christians and Communists with equal fervor. She states the premise of the book when she declares that, "Every hu...more

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Jan 13, 2013 David rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Even if you've never experienced the full Randian oeuvre, just think about what this book represents. Read that title and ponder a society in which altruism is regarded as the greatest vice and selfishness the highest virtue. In which a handful of "talented" supermen rule and prosper, while many if not most are left behind or abandoned. In the world around us, does not much of what is heartless, destructive of the planet and demeaning of human dignity follow from this value system?

Some reviewers...more

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Oct 03, 2012 James rated it 2 of 5 stars

The essays on what objectivism and Randian ethics entail, sprinkled throughout with quotes from the John Galt speech in Atlas Shrugged was kind of interesting. I do find it amusing that in the opening lines of a 20 or so page essay that she refers to you to her 1,200 page book. Like the JG speech itself, it makes sense in context, it just is slightly peculiar RATIONALLY!

Anyways, I had significantly less of a problem with this than AS, because essay is seemingly what she was going for the entire...more

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Jun 14, 2011 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars

The title of the book is slightly misleading as most people have no true philosophical understanding of what is "selfishness", immediately thinking of the irrational blanket understanding of individuals acting in grotesque mockery of true self interest, often harming themselves in the process. Her contention is that such people are not selfish enough, for if they were truly selfish, they would have their true self-interest at heart and are therefor acting irrationally and not selfish at all. Thi...more

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May 27, 2011 Rachelterry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sociology

It's a shock value title because the book is really about individualism vs. collectivism, and if you've read Atlas Shrugged or know about the Russia Rand immigrated from, you know where she stands on that issue.

There were a couple of chapters I liked in particular. I liked the discussion about the importance of property rights. Rand asserts that there are no individual rights without property rights. If people cannot claim the fruits of their labors as their own, they are completely at the mercy...more It's a shock value title because the book is really about individualism vs. collectivism, and if you've read Atlas Shrugged or know about the Russia Rand immigrated from, you know where she stands on that issue.

There were a couple of chapters I liked in particular. I liked the discussion about the importance of property rights. Rand asserts that there are no individual rights without property rights. If people cannot claim the fruits of their labors as their own, they are completely at the mercy of the government. There's also no incentive to accept responsibility if you don't have any rights (or only limited rights) to the results of your work. I also liked the chapter on racism quite a bit. Rand says that racism is a primitive form of collectivism. She says that capitalism has done more to eradicate racism than anything else, but as socialism creeps into societies, racism increases. She says that the South lost the Civil War because it couldn't compete with the more efficient, less racist, capitalist North. In the middle of the twentieth century, racism took on a new form as oppression of certain races (which obviously enslaves certain individuals) morphed into quotas (which also enslaves certain individuals). The smallest minority of all is the individual, she says.

I like Rand's cool, clear logic, but I do have a couple of criticisms. First, at the end of some of her chapters, her crisp logic gives way to a multiple paragraph emotional run up that ends with a dramatic metaphor about murder or destruction. I know you're passionate, Rand, but get a hold of yourself. Also, it seems a bit arrogant to repeatedly quote a person (even if he is stunningly handsome and reportedly the smartest person in the world) who is actually a fictional character of your own devising (John Galt).

All in all, for a book on philosophy, I thought it was exceptionally interesting and well done. If she's looking down on her beloved America right now, I'm sure she's shaking her head and saying, "I told you so."(less)

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Mar 10, 2011 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ayn Rand's philosophy, Objectivism, is often misinterpreted and misused, without ever being studied or even read. Often, the argument is that 'capitalism' has failed, and therefore Rand's philosophy is a failure as well. This is a strawman argument at best. The Virtue of Selfishness, as provocative a title as the book may have, is a philosophical synopsis of the application of Rand's philosophy, objectivism; it is not Rand's philosophy in itself.
Those that have read Rand know that her writing st...more

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Aug 07, 2010 Marlenecabada rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found this book to be worth reading.After twenty one years of sacrificing my life and raising two arrogant teenagers who remain ungrateful for my efforts.I understand what Rand is trying to say.We cant always do all the giving because we will end up spent with nothing to show for it.We must nurture ourselves always, in this way we will have inner strength and the ability to get through life regardless what may come our way.
I disagree that her philosophy is founded on a Dr. Spok mentality.Her...more

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Mar 21, 2010 notgettingenough rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: sociology

The star's for this: she writes a novel and then quotes one of the characters at length in this book. What chutzpah.

It's even better than the academics who cite things they haven't written yet.

Why have I picked it up? I'm sleeping badly. It made me closely examine what's in the bookshelf in the room in which I am generally living at the moment.

Oh yes. I see what's happened. Many years ago when I first moved into this house, I very sensibly put all the philosophy out in the spare bedroom where no...more

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Apr 11, 2009 Kevin J. Rogers rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ayn Rand was one of the most controversial thinkers--and successful fiction writers--of the 20th Century. Her detractors would claim that there is little to distinguish her fiction from her philosophy: that both are the result of a fantasist's distorted perspective on the world, tainted by an extreme egoism and fueled by some rather profound delusions. Her supporters would claim that it is the world as we know it that is distorted, mostly through the insidious influence of the philosophy of altr...more Ayn Rand was one of the most controversial thinkers--and successful fiction writers--of the 20th Century. Her detractors would claim that there is little to distinguish her fiction from her philosophy: that both are the result of a fantasist's distorted perspective on the world, tainted by an extreme egoism and fueled by some rather profound delusions. Her supporters would claim that it is the world as we know it that is distorted, mostly through the insidious influence of the philosophy of altruism, and that Miss Rand's philosophy is the only antidote to a world gone mad and hurtling toward an orgy of self-destruction. (This kind of extreme, polemical speech is fairly common in Randian discourse, no matter which side you are on.) The truth, as in most cases, lies somewhere in the middle.

Miss Rand (as she is always referred to by her followers) was the founder of the philosophy of Objectivism. She presented that philosophy in a series of novels, the culminating magnum opus of which was Atlas Shrugged, a sprawling neo-scifi quasi-futurist melodrama that has become a perennial bestseller since its publication in 1957. (The Fountainhead, which I think is a far superior book from a strictly literary perspective, came out in 1943, and was intended, in her words, to be "a portrayal of the ideal man".) Critics savaged Atlas Shrugged almost immediately, but the public took a kinder view of it, and Miss Rand, after a period of depression caused by the lack of serious consideration of her work in academic circles, founded an organization (now known as The Ayn Rand Institute) to promote her philosophy. That organization published a monthly newsletter throughout the 1960's to explain the philosophy in greater detail; Ayn Rand's contributions (and those of her chosen heir, Nathaniel Branden) were then collected into a series of short books further explaining Objectivism in greater detail. The Virtue of Selfishness is one of those books.

And there is much to admire here. Objectivism is based on the belief that reality is real--"A is A"--and that alone is a welcome change from the gibberish that one often encounters in the more esoteric philosophical discussions. The problem is that Miss Rand believes that in life, regardless of the circumstances, A is always A, and it is her "A" which is the correct one. (There is a famous exchange she had during a Q & A on an episode of the Phil Donahue Show, where a guest asked her if she thought she was perfect. "In terms of adhering to my philosophy at all times," she said, "yes, I am." The crowd exploded in hoots of derision. She just laughed at them. And this was in the Felt Forum in Madison Square Garden, with an attendance in the thousands. Say what you will, the woman had guts.) And that's a crucial flaw in the philosophy: to use logic to always come up with the right answer, as though life were a math problem, one must always have all the facts--all the inputs--and in life that is rarely the case. Most of the time we spend in doubt, trying to guess what "A" really is, or going forward on the basis of our experience and intuition. Miss Rand would call this mysticism; most other people would call it "life".

There is a distinct lack of humor and compassion here, as well. Neither of those values have a place in Objectivism, because the standard in Objectivism is always the same: rational self-interest. Everything in Objectivism is self-referential; how one feels about--or what one does for--another individual is based solely on that individual's place in one's own hierarchy of values. It is anathema to the Objectivist to suggest that there is a moral obligation to help someone in, say, a foreign country, even if the means are available to do so. And it is certainly immoral to suggest that society as a whole (meaning, of course, government) has a moral obligation to provide a social safety net for those who have been born ill-equipped to face the challenges of living in a modern society, or into familial or social circumstances which render it nearly impossible to develop into fully contributory citizens. Perhaps worst of all, though, is the idea that any sense of humor about oneself--any form of self-deprecating wit, or sign of humility--is somehow a betrayal of one's very soul. (There is that extremism again.) It sometimes seems, in reading Rand, that she has modeled the perfect human on Dr. Spock of Star Trek fame, which is unfortunate, given that the good Doctor was an alien.

But there is, as always when dealing with Miss Rand, another side to the story. As much as professional philosophers ridicule her as being a crackpot--and there are, admittedly, some howlers in there--for most people (who, frankly, themselves would consider most professional philosophers to be crackpots) there is a great deal of practical appeal in Objectivism, and for good reason: as Miss Rand so succinctly puts it, Objectivism is a philosophy "for living life here on Earth". There is very little angels-on-pinheads speculation here, very little that is off the point. Her focus is always concentrated on the here and now, the reality of living as experienced by individuals every day, and as such there is a great deal of utility in reading her work. To adopt her philosophy wholly is, ironically enough, to abdicate one's individuality, since she always insisted that her philosophy was "perfect" and had to be accepted in its entirety, exactly as she promulgated it. (If you're wondering whether or not there is a high degree of cult-like devotion in the Randian world, the answer is yes.) But if one is willing to think for oneself there is value in reading her work, and The Virtue of Selfishness is a good place to start.

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Jul 16, 2011 Shane Wallis rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: philosophy, politics

I have been curious for a while as to why and how exactly it is that Ayn Rand manages to attract such a loyal following among the general public. It was with this in mind that I set about acquiring and reading my first Ayn Rand book. I however found myself neither compelled or impressed by the merits of her arguments being presented. Indeed a quote from American anthropologist Alfred Kroeber is aptly applicable here. "This is no-man's-land, and therefore used as a picnic-ground by whosoever pref...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Fernanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Esta clase de libros es de esos que uno puede juzgar por su nombre equivocadamente. Hay muchas personas por ahí convencidas de que el egoísmo es el término de la virtud y es entonces donde deciden no tomar en cuenta un libro como este, donde se hacen declaraciones acertadas, no sobre el egoísmo, si no sobre el ser humano y su manera de vivir. Muchos pueden refutar este libro, yo entre esas personas, donde una serie de pensamientos me parecen muy estrictos e inflexibles, haciendo del objetivismo...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Raghav Bansal rated it 5 of 5 stars

A perfect read to refresh your comprehension of "The Fountainhead" and "The Atlas Shrugged", this one has Ayn Rand speaking out uninhibitedly, expatiating on the essence of Objectivism and literally tearing apart the fallacies of character ailing the society or rather what remains of a "free" society as being promoted by Altruism and Collectivism. She is particularly critical of the current state of affairs in the world and does not hesitate to openly criticize the deprecating state of affairs i...more A perfect read to refresh your comprehension of "The Fountainhead" and "The Atlas Shrugged", this one has Ayn Rand speaking out uninhibitedly, expatiating on the essence of Objectivism and literally tearing apart the fallacies of character ailing the society or rather what remains of a "free" society as being promoted by Altruism and Collectivism. She is particularly critical of the current state of affairs in the world and does not hesitate to openly criticize the deprecating state of affairs in countries that use Collectivism as a garb to shamelessly deprive its nationals of the primary rights of The Individual.
The author has very deftly presented to the reader the true and exact meaning of the word "Selfishness" which is very much a righteous act as viewed by a real objectivist. The word which now has been so grotesquely misconstrued and spoken about in today's hollow society and treated as a low vile act with it's real essence being twisted by Altruists and condemned as despicable and reeking of vanity and hedonism.
Time and again she has stressed upon the the foremost concept of Objectivism of Sound Rationale being the only cause ascribing an objectivist to undertake any action or make a decision. She is also clever enough to alienate Counterfeit Individualism from Objectivism in the sense that certain individualists tend to confuse the terms of "Independent thought" and "independent feelings". In the words of the author, an objectivist's lexicon who is supposed to be dispassionately and intransigently fact centered should have no place for phrases like "It's right because I feel it" or "Its good because I feel it".
Rand has also taken this platform to throw some light on the cloudy aspects that clutter our decision making when it comes to moral grounds. She is explicit in her criticism of people refraining from their responsibility to pronounce moral judgement and preferring to stick to shades of grey between absolute good and bad, thus birthing moral grayness of future societies.

Overall a very intriguing read and a standout one from Ayn Rand!(less)

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May 11, 2009 Marshall rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, philosophy

This book summarizes Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. I really like many of the values Objectivism champions: reason, ethics, self-love, self-esteem, self-reliance, individualism, joy, and pleasure. But emphasizing these in absolute terms, as polar opposites to other qualities, creates a lot of problems.

Like most Western philosophers, Rand is a dualistic thinker, which I find simplistic. To her, value and morality are objective, inherent in human nature. There is Self and Other, Moral and I...more This book summarizes Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. I really like many of the values Objectivism champions: reason, ethics, self-love, self-esteem, self-reliance, individualism, joy, and pleasure. But emphasizing these in absolute terms, as polar opposites to other qualities, creates a lot of problems.

Like most Western philosophers, Rand is a dualistic thinker, which I find simplistic. To her, value and morality are objective, inherent in human nature. There is Self and Other, Moral and Immoral, Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, and one should never hesitate to cast judgment on those who are Wrong, or compromise in the slightest bit on these fundamental values. Nations that are Right may invade nations that are Wrong, and impose their morality on that nation, because Wrong nations are outlaws. Of course, Ayn Rand is the authority on Right and Wrong, although this is neatly couched in the claim that her advocated morality is objective.

She seems to be reacting against a world that I'm unfamiliar with--a world divided between creative people who just want to do their thing, and parasites who just want to steal all their hard work. Fleeing as she did from Soviet Russia, I get this. So maybe I'm just a spoiled American, but I've never seen the world divided in this way. Ironically, most of the parasitism I'm aware of are by corporations, for which Rand advocates nearly zero regulation. Much of the property they steal or pollute is inherently communal, impossible to divide and protect in the way Rand advocates. Rand believes the only rights are individual rights, that there is no such thing as a collective.

Objectivism also distinguishes between selfishness and a hive mentality that she calls altruism. Maybe I'm being thrown off by the word "selfishness," which she admits she uses for shock value. She does believe in ethics, and says that selfishness would make the world a better place, though she never explains why in this book. But even with a strong code of ethics, focusing on self-interest misses out on the full possibilities of love and compassion, which can be learned and practiced, and encompasses and requires self-love. That is what altruism is for me. There are few places besides Rand's writing that I've seen altruism equated with self-sacrifice. How can someone be of service unless they have their own needs met and they find joy in it? Maybe that's all Rand is trying to say, but if so, then I admit I've misunderstood her, which is apparently common among her readers.(less)

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Mar 29, 2013 Edward rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: philosophy

Ayn Rand's observations of human nature are very keen, but she is lacking one thing--God. She is guilty of having substituted him with a lesser god--rationality. Of course, we must all follow some god, even the atheist since a god is whatever you put at primary in your life.

In this case, Rand puts rationality as the primary in her life and her philosophy is that the rational man is the model we should all be following as he will do what is best for himself first. And if everyone would be selfish...more

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Apr 21, 2011 Emily Humbert rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: objectivism, randtastic, 20th-ce, atheism, epistomology, owned, philosophy

Yet the exact meaning and dictionary definition of the word "selfishness" is: concern with one's own interests. This concept does not include a moral evaluation; it does not tell us whether concern withe one's own interests is good or evil; nor does it tell us what constitutes man's actual interests It is the task of ethics to answer such questions (p. vii).

To challenge the basic premise of any discipline, one must begin at the beginning. In ethics, one must begin by asking: What are values? Why...more

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Aug 16, 2009 Ninja Sock Puppet rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who like Carlos Castaneda

Shelves: deep-shit

This book is a terrible introduction to Rand's ideology of Objectivism. This book quotes Atlas Shrugged so often that I began to wonder if it wasn't just a clever advertisement. In fact, in the middle of my copy was wedged a reply card that you can fill out and get more information about her Objectivist Foundation, which for me puts this book firmly into the L. Ron Hubbard camp of cultish idiocy. [EDIT: I also discovered that the previous reader of this library book had left their bookmark behin...more This book is a terrible introduction to Rand's ideology of Objectivism. This book quotes Atlas Shrugged so often that I began to wonder if it wasn't just a clever advertisement. In fact, in the middle of my copy was wedged a reply card that you can fill out and get more information about her Objectivist Foundation, which for me puts this book firmly into the L. Ron Hubbard camp of cultish idiocy. [EDIT: I also discovered that the previous reader of this library book had left their bookmark behind. It was a Taco Bell receipt for two chicken burritos and a water ($1.91, paid with exact change), putting this book firmly into the College Student camp of not having enough money for bookmarks or food.]

Don't get me wrong, I actually agree with some of her ideas. But rather than a practical philosophy, Objectivism appears to be mostly a rationalization for her existing beliefs, and a poorly argued one at best. Mind you, I only made it forty pages before giving up and throwing this book across the room.

Her logic is so circular at times that British scientists could calibrate their instruments with it (apologies to SNL's portrayal of George Michael's ass). This book is mostly a series of declarative statements that appear like logic, but can best be described as Pig Logic. Ifway Away enthay eebay. She starts with how we have to define our 'virtue' via the sensations of pleasure and pain, but then says that no, since we're rational we have to use our reason to figure out what our moral and ethical system should be. Then she goes on to rationalize commonly-held virtues, but in the context they come off as excuses for her superiority complex.

I can see why a lot of people in college would like this. Flush with their own nascent intellectualism, Rand's ideology is an excuse to pretense, to get all holier than thou on less intellectual pursuits. You know what? There's nothing wrong with watching action films for the awesome explosions, sub-human though they may be.

She places great value on not blindly accepting what 'authorities' say but in thinking for oneself. Thanks, Ayn, for legitimizing my intellectual and physical rejection of your so-called philosophy. I'm going to continue to think that my life is worth something, and that necessarily, there are things that I think are worth dying for.

I fully understand that I'm rejecting the bulk of what she's written on the basis of forty pages. I know that a lot of people really dig Objectivism who know far more than I do. I welcome an education in how Objectivism isn't just an excuse to unfettered corporate monopolies and personal greed at the expense of the sheeple she despises. But those forty pages weren't captivating in the least.

I think that if I had just read Atlas Shrugged I might have been more receptive to her ideas. Couched in fiction, her declarative style would have been just another fictional character spouting just another fictional ideology with the promise of rationalism at its core. As it is, The Virtue of Selfishness comes off as Nietzsche For Idiots.(less)

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Apr 28, 2010 Anshupriya Goswamy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: philosophy

Recently Right to Education was enacted and intellectuals hailed it as a major success of Indian democracy. As the Indian Govt paves the way for Right to Food Act, I see that there is an increasing need for more people to read this book and realise what they are witnessing is not the victory of Indian democracy over poverty and hunger, a victory of the principles of modern day altruism, the success of government over economic ills.

What we are seeing is the constant abdication of private rights t...more

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Nov 19, 2009 Christopher rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book by novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, (author of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead") is an ethical treatise on her philosophy of Objectivism, which sets out the principles of rational egoism—selfishness—and is the answer to thousands of years of the ethics of self-sacrifice—altruism.

This morality is based on the needs of man’s survival, with one’s self as the standard of value, (hence selfishness,) and the pursuit of one’s own happiness as the moral ideal. Or, to quote Miss Rand:...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Art rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: objectivism

This is the worst Ayn Rand book I've read, or at least the one that makes the flaws in her thinking most obvious. In her best writing, she seems to transcend her own lifetime and speak with startling relevance and clarity directly to the reader, making scary amounts of sense about issues a lot of people don't have the guts to breach. She speaks uncompromisingly, and shakes your logical facilities and ego by the shoulders. There are several moments of this kind in The Virtue of Selfishness, parti...more This is the worst Ayn Rand book I've read, or at least the one that makes the flaws in her thinking most obvious. In her best writing, she seems to transcend her own lifetime and speak with startling relevance and clarity directly to the reader, making scary amounts of sense about issues a lot of people don't have the guts to breach. She speaks uncompromisingly, and shakes your logical facilities and ego by the shoulders. There are several moments of this kind in The Virtue of Selfishness, particularly the title essay. But this collection is mostly comprised of her weaker moments - insubstantial ideas, paper-thin logic, a basic misreading of the nature of humanity, numerous blatant contradictions and constant repetition of the same few concepts until they lose meaning altogether.

She writes a whole article decrying racism as a shallow product of tribal collectivism, and then complains about "the savages of Asia and Africa". She decries the virtue of being non-judgemental as a moral "blank check" - and there is some truth to this - but then serves up a blank check of her own when the issue of a voluntary system to replace taxation comes up, and she admits that she basically does not have an alternative idea. She also compares the concept of taxation to distributing forcefully cut-out eyeballs among the blind, which is a plainly ridiculous analogy if given even a little bit of thought.

Nathaniel Branden also contributes several essays to this book, and maybe I know too much backstory, but they almost always feel like fangushing written to impress the mistress. He's also not as good a writer - she took to heart Nietzsche's quote that "my function is not to be a flyswatter" and keeps her references to contemporary life minimal. Time proved this a wise move for the strength and relevance of her writing. Branden, on the other hand, is difficult to take seriously when he decries beatniks and Waiting for Godot. In the words of Prince, "hold on 2 ur soul" and don't give it to anybody, including Ayn Rand.(less)

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May 03, 2011 joycesu rated it 4 of 5 stars

"An individualist is a man who lives for his own sake and by his own mind; he neither sacrifices himself to others nor sacrifices others to himself; he deals with men as a trader - not as a looter; as a Producers- not as an Attila."

Reading Ayn Rand's theories on objectivism has been really insightful into my own life perceptions. First and foremost, she makes a sharp distinction between the faults of a priori (perceived reality) and the virtue of a posteriori (existential reality); perception an...more

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Sep 13, 2011 Meg Sanchez rated it 5 of 5 stars

Rand is a product of her time. They needed a radical new perspective, if only to be aware that another option exists. One that does Not excuse "bad behavior" but clearly defines our motivations. I believe the controversies she aroused were necessary tactics she used to provoke the readers and to cause them to think more thoroughly and act and react more deliberately without the guilt or remorse we often suffer from when we make choices in our lives. Religious dogma and society has programmed us...more

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About Ayn Rand

Alisa Rosenbaum was born in pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg to a prosperous Jewish family. When the Bolsheviks requisitioned the pharmacy owned by her father, Fronz, the Rosenbaums fled to the Crimea. Alisa returned to the city (renamed Leningrad) to attend the university, but in 1926 relatives who had already settled in America offered her the chance of joining them there. With money from the sa...more

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Quotes from The Virtue of Selfishness

“The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.” — 526 people liked it

“Men who reject the responsibility of thought and reason can only exist as parasites on the thinking of others.” — 79 people liked it

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