A review by thomasgoddard
The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism by Ayn Rand
4.0
I've re-written a review of this a few times. It's really hard because it's an uphill battle trying to explain to anyone that there's value to be extracted from Objectivism. And I don't mean to say there's a lot. But the views on the idiocy of socialism and the chapter on rights and sacrifice. That's worth wading through the nonsense about selfishness for.
It's not a unique viewpoint, but it is quite a clear system of thought. And a lot of the aspects I was led to believe about Rand, and those who share her views, are just absolutely stupid. Most of the time they're extremely biased or completely misunderstand the points raised.
The older I get the more I realise that most philosophies are an exercise in alienation. You'd think they'd be an attempt to weld the bonds between all men. But actually they just serve to intellectually distance us from the opposing perspective targeted.
I think the most reasonable response to life, and the people in it, is just to try to avoid zero-sum games. And to think about issues locally too. None of this broad swathe nonsense. The moment we start straying into the trap of thinking about people in groupings and tribes is the moment we might as well abandon any claim of moralistic virtue.
Is there a right way to run society? Probably. But I doubt the best way will be dreamt up by one of us. I'm leaning toward some form of artificial intelligence. Yeah. And it'll probably throw us back into little villages again. It'll be nice. Cottagecore meets Black Mirror. High Rise with a dash of Cider for Rosie.
It's not a unique viewpoint, but it is quite a clear system of thought. And a lot of the aspects I was led to believe about Rand, and those who share her views, are just absolutely stupid. Most of the time they're extremely biased or completely misunderstand the points raised.
The older I get the more I realise that most philosophies are an exercise in alienation. You'd think they'd be an attempt to weld the bonds between all men. But actually they just serve to intellectually distance us from the opposing perspective targeted.
I think the most reasonable response to life, and the people in it, is just to try to avoid zero-sum games. And to think about issues locally too. None of this broad swathe nonsense. The moment we start straying into the trap of thinking about people in groupings and tribes is the moment we might as well abandon any claim of moralistic virtue.
Is there a right way to run society? Probably. But I doubt the best way will be dreamt up by one of us. I'm leaning toward some form of artificial intelligence. Yeah. And it'll probably throw us back into little villages again. It'll be nice. Cottagecore meets Black Mirror. High Rise with a dash of Cider for Rosie.