I’m no expert on
Ayn Rand nor her philosophy, but I find her thought provoking. She says:
“What is the moral code of altruism? The
basic principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake,
that service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that
self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue and value.” –Ayn Rand
She goes on to
point out that altruism ought not to be confused with kindness or good will, or
respect for the rights of others. She seems to assert that
altruism makes these impossible via the demand for self-sacrifice, which she
equates with self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction,
all of which define the self as a standard of evil. In her own words:
“Do not hide behind such superficialities
as whether you should or should not give a dime to a beggar. That is not the
issue. The issue is whether you do
or do not have the right to exist without giving him that dime. The issue is
whether you must keep buying your life, dime by dime, from any beggar who might
choose to approach you. The issue is whether the need of others is the first
mortgage on your life and the moral purpose of your existence.” (www.aynrandlexicon.com).
I hope that she is not speaking of people in real need such as
children, the elderly and others who are vulnerable, through no fault of their
own, and depend on the above-mentioned kindness and goodwill of those close to
them.
Her main
objection seems to be the idea of self-sacrifice. Near as I can tell her argument is one that places the value of
self-care above that of caring for others, for the simple reason that one does
not have much to give otherwise.
As in the oft quoted dictum of Jesus, for example, which says we should love our neighbours as ourselves, not in place of ourselves.
As in the oft quoted dictum of Jesus, for example, which says we should love our neighbours as ourselves, not in place of ourselves.
If we do not
take responsibility for our own lives, we don’t have much to give to anyone
else, and it is a poor model to relate to our children that they are not here
to enjoy being alive, but that they must sacrifice themselves on the altar of
someone else’s existence in order to justify their own—that is just backwards!
Basic
self-respect needs to be the place from which we live our lives and on which we
base our decisions—our highest virtue. We need to remember that self-care,
self-responsibility and self-respect are not values that exist mutually
exclusive of kindness, empathy and compassion for others either.
We just need to remember that we are not more responsible for the lives of others than they are themselves, with minor exceptions (children etc.).
We just need to remember that we are not more responsible for the lives of others than they are themselves, with minor exceptions (children etc.).
I vote for a
little more of the right kind of self-involvement: plumbing our depths through
journaling, taking a long walk, getting a much needed, much deserved
massage…the possibilities are endless.
Help yourself and you by default help the world around you. You will be much more pleasant and interesting to be around at the very least! ;)
Help yourself and you by default help the world around you. You will be much more pleasant and interesting to be around at the very least! ;)
Again, I’m no
expert on Ayn Rand, but I think there is something to the notion of the primary
purpose in anyone’s life being to take the best care of that life that is
possible, mind you, not at any expense.
Perhaps this is where Ayn Rand and I part ways.
Perhaps this is where Ayn Rand and I part ways.
