The “Virtue Of Selfishness”: Ayn Rand’s Ethics Of Egoism In Your Own Life

The philosopher Ayn Rand discusses a theory that she called 'rational egoism'. She holds that it is both irrational and immoral to act against oneself-interest. Her book The Virtue of Selfishness (1964) explains the concept of rational egoism in depth. Values are not, as Rand has it, inherently oriented to an organism’s survival, either for people or for living things broadly. Rather, people experience certain things as ends in themselves and value some things (such as having and raising children) for reasons other than to advance their survival. Although Rand and her advocates seek to make sense of the biology of values, the nature of human life ends in themselves, happiness, and moral virtues, ultimately their efforts do not rescue Rand’s theory. The book offers insights and challenges for those who are new to Rand’s ideas as well as for those who have long studied Rand’s philosophy. The work dives deeply into the literature on Rand’s moral theory, for those interested, with detailed notes and an extensive appendix exploring major works on the topic.