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From: ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy,net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: Ayn Rand's derivation of her ethics
Message-ID: <3978@alice.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 11-Jul-85 11:35:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: alice.3978
Posted: Thu Jul 11 11:35:17 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Jul-85 07:54:33 EDT
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Organization: Bell Labs, Murray Hill
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Xref: watmath net.philosophy:2030 net.politics.theory:877

> More to the point of arguing against so-called "Objectivist"
> ethics, a person might rationally say "my brother's life is
> worth enhancing independently of the effect on myself, and there
> is some level of benefit for him such that, to achieve it, I would
> forgo all future benefits to myself".   Call it altruism (def.?) or 
> humanitarianism or whatever, when this kind of thinking is applied
> to all people (not just one's relations) it seems to bother Rand
> et. al. a great deal.  (Actually, Rand's villains (try to?) care 
> ONLY about others and NOT about themselves; she never considers
> the possibility that one might care about both -- again Rand 
> represents as binary a choice that is multiple.)

I do not think Rand had any desire to prevent individuals from
believing they are the least important people in the world.
I expect she would hold that belief to be mistaken.

What she unfailingly denounced as evil is the common consequence
of that belief:  people who say "I believe that everyone else's
life is more important to me than my own.  Therefore, YOU should
believe that everyone else's life is more important to you than
your own."  THAT is the view of her villains.

In several places, she said that it is entirely rational that you
might value another person so much that you would be willing to
do anything for that other person.  But to so value people you have
never met?  That you don't even know exist?

Scrimping and saving to put your kids through college is not a
sacrifice.  Giving everything you own to a bum on the street is.