{"id":868,"date":"2002-08-12T14:18:01","date_gmt":"2002-08-12T22:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2002\/08\/12\/objections-to-objectivism-a-brief-critique-of-ayn-rands-ethical-egoism\/"},"modified":"2002-08-12T14:18:01","modified_gmt":"2002-08-12T22:18:01","slug":"objections-to-objectivism-a-brief-critique-of-ayn-rands-ethical-egoism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2002\/08\/12\/objections-to-objectivism-a-brief-critique-of-ayn-rands-ethical-egoism","title":{"rendered":"Objections To Objectivism: A Brief Critique of Ayn Rand\u2019s Ethical Egoism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stanford.edu\/group\/SOC\/\">Objec\u00adtivist Club at Stan\u00adford<\/a> is pret\u00adty active, and so this seemed like an appro\u00adpri\u00adate first entry in our \u201cRea\u00adson\u00adable Answers to Hon\u00adest Ques\u00adtions\u201d cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry.<\/p>\n<p>In case you\u2019re not famil\u00adiar with it, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aynrand.org\/objectivism\/essentials.html\">objec\u00adtivism<\/a> is the sys\u00adtem of phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy defined by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aynrand.org\/aynrand\/\">Ayn Rand<\/a>. It deals with much more than mere\u00adly ethics, but that\u2019s what I want to com\u00adment on today. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.objectivistcenter.org\/objectivism\/faqs\/wthomas_faq-ethics.asp\">Ayn Rand\u2019s eth\u00adi\u00adcal the\u00ado\u00adry<\/a> is of the type known as \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.utm.edu\/research\/iep\/e\/egoism.htm\">eth\u00adi\u00adcal ego\u00adism<\/a>,\u201d which means that we should always choose to do things that ben\u00ade\u00adfit our\u00adselves (we also call this self\u00adish\u00adness). A short way to sum\u00adma\u00adrize Ayn Rand\u2019s eth\u00adi\u00adcal the\u00ado\u00adry would be \u201cself\u00adish\u00adness is a virtue.\u201d That\u2019s not a com\u00adplete\u00adly fair sum\u00adma\u00adry: she argues for a very spe\u00adcif\u00adic type of self\u00adish\u00adness: an enlight\u00adened self-inter\u00adest which rec\u00adog\u00adnizes that some\u00adtimes act\u00ading for the good of oth\u00aders actu\u00adal\u00adly ben\u00ade\u00adfits one\u00adself. Here\u2019s a more detailed descrip\u00adtion writ\u00adten by one of her fans:<\/p>\n<p><i>The Objec\u00adtivist ethics rebuilds moral\u00adi\u00adty from the ground up. \u201cYou can\u00adnot say \u2018I love you\u2019 if you can\u00adnot say the \u2018I\u2019,\u201d wrote Ayn Rand. Accord\u00ading to Objec\u00adtivism, a per\u00adson\u00ad\u2019s own life and hap\u00adpi\u00adness is the ulti\u00admate good. To achieve hap\u00adpi\u00adness requires a moral\u00adi\u00adty of ratio\u00adnal self\u00adish\u00adness, one that does not give unde\u00adserved rewards to oth\u00aders and that does not ask them for one\u00adself. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.objectivistcenter.org\/objectivism\/faqs\/wthomas_faq-ethics.asp\">source<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p>I sent an email to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rzim.org\/\">Ravi Zacharias Inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal Min\u00adistries<\/a> ask\u00ading them to pro\u00advide me with a cri\u00adtique of Ayn Rand\u2019s eth\u00adi\u00adcal the\u00ado\u00adry. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gospelcom.net\/rzim\/apologetics\/apologetics.php?personid=8\">Paul Copan<\/a> was kind enough to craft this brief reply:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAYN RAND\u2019S ETHICAL EGOISM (OBJECTIVISM)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rand\u2019s eth\u00adi\u00adcal views pre\u00adsup\u00adpose a nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adis\u00adtic fal\u00adla\u00adcy; that is,<br>\nit moves from the descrip\u00adtive (that we are nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly self\u00adish) to the<br>\npre\u00adscrip\u00adtive (that we ought to look out for Num\u00adber One).  But there is<br>\nnoth\u00ading log\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly com\u00adpelling about mak\u00ading this jump.\n<\/li>\n<li>What hap\u00adpens if there is a con\u00adflict of inter\u00adests?  How do we adju\u00addi\u00adcate between con\u00adflict\u00ading egos?\n<\/li>\n<li>If the rules of moral\u00adi\u00adty are real\u00adly rules of expe\u00addi\u00aden\u00adcy, then they<br>\nwill be oblig\u00ada\u00adtory only so long as they are expe\u00addi\u00adent.\n<\/li>\n<li>The pur\u00adsuit of self\u00adish pleasures\/goals even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly leads to anar\u00adchy,<br>\nin which every\u00adone does what is right in his own eyes.\n<\/li>\n<li>What hap\u00adpens when an eth\u00adi\u00adcal ego\u00adist turns into a dic\u00adta\u00adtor?  It seems<br>\nmoral\u00adly counter-intu\u00aditive to sug\u00adgest that act\u00ading ego\u00adis\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly is legit\u00adi\u00admate<br>\nfor him.\n<\/li>\n<li>The eth\u00adi\u00adcal ego\u00adistal view is arbi\u00adtrary.  Why should I opt for my own<br>\ngood as opposed to soci\u00adety\u2019s good (or the good of some oth\u00ader group\u00ading)?<br>\nIt seems that the ego\u00adist can give no real rea\u00adsons for why his view is to be<br>\npre\u00adferred.\n<\/li>\n<li>Ego\u00adism pre\u00adsumes a uni\u00adver\u00adsal rel\u00ade\u00advance (i.e., the ego\u00adist pre\u00adsumes<br>\na will\u00ading\u00adness to see oth\u00aders should embrace this view and act on it, but if<br>\nthe ego\u00adist does not, then it seems to be a defi\u00adcient moral view). How\u00adev\u00ader,<br>\nif the ego\u00adis\u00adtic eth\u00adic is uni\u00adver\u00adsal\u00adized, then it seems that this would go<br>\nagainst the ego\u00adist\u2019s own self\u00adish ends.  That is, the ego\u00adist would\u00adn\u2019t<br>\nwant his eth\u00adic uni\u00adver\u00adsal\u00adized.\n<\/li>\n<li>The eth\u00adi\u00adcal ego\u00adist can\u2019t be trust\u00aded when offer\u00ading moral advice<br>\nto oth\u00aders since it will be to his own advan\u00adtage rather than to that of the<br>\none seek\u00ading his advice.\n<\/li>\n<li>Fur\u00adther\u00admore, even if purs\u00ading self\u00adish ends is legit\u00adi\u00admate, it seems<br>\nhard to believe that this is the only moral virtue.  That is, one\u2019s good may<br>\nbe an object to pur\u00adsue, but it need not be the only one.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is a fuller defense of an objec\u00adtive, divine\u00adly-root\u00aded eth\u00adic in the book, <a href=\"http:\/\/shop.gospelcom.net\/cgi-bin\/rzim.storefront\/3d58254c03261bca271aac14100105b1\/Product\/View\/BK5\">True for You, But Not for Me<\/a>; this can be ordered through RZIM\u2019s order line at 800\u2013448-6766.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If this top\u00adic is of more inter\u00adest to you, Copan (author of the above cri\u00adtique) also rec\u00adom\u00admends that you read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.desiringgod.org\/library\/topics\/culture\/rand.html\">The Ethics of Ayn Rand: Appre\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion and Cri\u00adtique<\/a> by John Piper. Piper takes more space to elab\u00ado\u00adrate on Rand\u2019s the\u00ado\u00adry and points out sev\u00ader\u00adal ele\u00adments of it he agrees with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Objec\u00adtivist Club at Stan\u00adford is pret\u00adty active, and so this seemed like an appro\u00adpri\u00adate first entry in our \u201cRea\u00adson\u00adable Answers to Hon\u00adest Ques\u00adtions\u201d cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry. In case you\u2019re not famil\u00adiar with it, objec\u00adtivism is the sys\u00adtem of phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy defined by Ayn Rand. It deals with much more than mere\u00adly ethics, but that\u2019s what I want \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2002\/08\/12\/objections-to-objectivism-a-brief-critique-of-ayn-rands-ethical-egoism\" class=\"more-link\">Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cObjec\u00adtions To Objec\u00adtivism: A Brief Cri\u00adtique of Ayn Rand\u2019s Eth\u00adi\u00adcal Ego\u00adism\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reasonable-answers-to-honest-questions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-e0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}