Question

Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophy has been touted by her detractors as the philosophy of self-interested selfishness. Her four epistemological principles include the following:

Metaphysics: Objective reality of the world and the objects in it.

Epistemology: Reason as the one and only key to understanding.

Ethics: Self-interest not only in what behavior is but also what it should be.

Politics: Capitalism through the performance of deeds by individuals who are self-interested.

In the early 1960s, a student asked a spokesman for Objectivism what would happen to the poor in an Objectivist's free society. The spokesman answered, "If you want to help them, you will not be stopped." Based on Rand's works, Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead, one will conclude that this would be the answer Ayn would have given to that student as well.

a) What do you conclude from the answer given by the Objectivist spokesperson?

b) Examine the notion that Objectivism, like moral relativism, is the opposite of ethics. Provide support for your position.

c) What clue in what she taught leads to your conclusion?

Answer 1

a)   What do you conclude from the answer given by the Objectivist spokesperson?

Objectivism also gives freedom to an individual as one aspect of self-interest. Thus, the answer given by the Objectivist spokesperson is well aligned with the Objectivist philosophy of self-interest and freedom. As they also believe reason as the basis for any information, a justifying reason as to why a person wants to help the poor would suffice to an Objectivist.

b)   Examine the notion that Objectivism, like moral relativism, is the opposite of ethics. Provide support for your position.

Ethics associated with various aspects are devised to keep the balance in society and harmony among different communities and people. As the Objectivism focuses mainly on the self-interest of an individual, most of the times, when one individual has to deal with different individuals in the society, one may not get chance to express his/her self-interest. Also, expressing individual self-interest may not fit with others self-interests and this may create a conflict among individuals and unethical situations. Thus, Objectivism from this perspective looks opposite of ethics.

c)   What clue in what she taught leads to your conclusion?

Both the principles propounded by her - ‘Self-interest not only in what behaviour is but also what it should be’ and ‘Capitalism through the performance of deeds by individuals who are self-interested’, indicate the possible situation that Objectivism may sometimes lead to unethical conditions while dealing with multiple individuals with different self-interests.