Ayn Rand is one of my favorite authors. I would never have picked up Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged had it not been at the persistence of a former colleague. Rand has a cult following, is frequently credited with launching the philosophy of objectivism and has received much criticism for her portrayal of selfishness as a virtue…but I have started to agree with her.
Last night over wine, a friend and I held a lengthy discussion about the search for happiness and the accusations of selfishness that result when we put ourselves first.
You cannot say I love you without first saying “I”. You have to honor yourself and meet your needs. Nobody can or will do that for you.
Humans are selfish by nature. We derive pleasure from even the most generous of our gestures. When we compromise in relationship we don’t really do it to make the other person happy, we really do it because they make us happy. We want the other person in our lives to smile bringing us joy, shared moments and laughter. That is a selfishness I can live with.
That’s not the full story of Rand’s philosophy, though. You cannot simply rationalize something into a wording that appears selfish, and then say, “therefore it is good.” Rand argued not for mere selfishness, but for rational self-interest. While it may be alright to compromise to mutual benefit, you cannot argue that all compromise is acceptable.
Brian
September 6th, 2008
*nodding, although I’ve not heard of Ayn Rand.
Will be looking into her books now.
Great post!
Bohemian mom
September 6th, 2008
If we all “selfishly” took good care of ourselves, the world would be a much better place.
BTW…I’ve heard of Ayn Rand, even bought a book for my niece, but I’ve not read her yet myself. Tell me, is it pronounced, “Ann?”
Michelle O'Neil
September 6th, 2008
nope - Ayn rhymes with “mine” & she is worth dedicating yourself to her 700 plus pagers!
Dawn
September 7th, 2008
Brian - you’re quite right I was summarizing. Compromise become unacceptable when they require us to self betray or violate our system of values.
Dawn
September 7th, 2008