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Slide 2 Module 12: Ayn Rand and the Ethics of Self-Interest Philosophy 240: Introductory Ethics Online CCBC Author: Daniel G. Jenkins, MA Updated May 2008 Slide 3 This module is meant to accompany Chapter 5: Ethical Egoism in Rachels The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 5 th edition. Module Goals: After completing readings, presentations, discussions, and coursework for this module, you will be able to: Identify and explain core aspects of Rands Objectivist ethics Apply Rands Objectivist ethics in moral decision-making Analyze the usefulness and critique features of Rands Objectivist ethics Synthesize Rands Objectivist ethics with other theories in the academic study of ethics Slide 4 A different kind of ethics So far we have discussed ethics that focus on knowledge, virtue, consequence, duty, and civic responsibility. According to Objectivism, we have a moral obligation to be selfish. Slide 5 Objectivism Objectivism is a form of ethical egoism developed by Russian- born American philosopher and author Ayn Rand. Rand was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher. She is widely known for her best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. She was an uncompromising advocate of rational individualism and laissez-faire capitalism, and vociferously opposed socialism, altruism, and religion. Slide 6 Ayn Rand Slide 7 Core Ideas of Objectivism Rand asserts that human beings are powerful beings, and that the world is knowable. Objectivism contends that the proper moral purpose of one's life is to pursue one's own rational self-interest. The government should be strictly limited to courts, police, and a military. This is the only system where humans are barred from initiating the use of physical force upon each other. Force is never acceptable; but physical force is the only kind of force there is. Slide 8 The Objectivist Movement The Objectivist movement was a movement to popularize Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy that began with the founding of the Nathaniel Branden Institute in 1960. With that event, Objectivism became an organized movement, with its own events, speakers, and publications. Eventually Leonard Peikoff rose as Branden's replacement. When Rand died in 1982 he assumed full control as the new leader of the Objectivist movement and in 1985 he formed the Ayn Rand Institute to replace the Branden Institute. Slide 9 The Is/Ought Fallacy Rand starts by attempting to address the is-ought problem Man needs morality to live, that is, he ought to do certain things because they are necessary for him to live; he is precisely because he does what he ought. Slide 10 Values Rand defines what values we ought to have: 1) Only living beings have values/goals; 2) Because we are free, we must choose our values; 3) Values and goals may be means to ends, but must lead to some ultimate end to be worthwhile; an endless series of means is worthless; 4) Life is the only possible ultimate end, the only thing that has intrinsic value; 5) Therefore the only justifiable values a man can choose are those which serve to sustain his life. Slide 11 The Ultimate Value Sustaining and optimizing our own life is the ultimate value. Slide 12 Man Qua Man For Rand, it is not enough that we merely survive biologically, but live as man qua man. Man is different from the animals only insofar as he can pursue his own rational self interest. Slide 13 What we ought do We can optimize and sustain our own lives, thereby living as man qua man, if we adhere to the three lesser values: Reason Purpose Self Esteem The virtues by which we can achieve these values are: Rationality Productiveness Pride Slide 14