Posted on 06/22/2007 12:43:45 PM PDT by Raymann
Egoism is a state of mind where a person values all things in terms of their value to the self. Egoism and selfishness are virtues, in fact the greatest of all virtues, as they enable life.
All living beings are selfish. To survive, they must be. Without fulfilling one's basic needs of water, food, or protection, one would cease to exist. Although selfishness is a necessity, many people hold selflessness as their goal in life, and this altruistic thinking is a dominating and corrosive mainstay of today's society. If one were to give all of his money to charity or devote all time to a selfless cause, there would be no opportunity for survival. He may as well commit suicide. The altruists of today hold any action for the benefit of others as the moral ideal. If one were to follow strictly the basic tenets of altruistic thought, he would perish. But how can the epitome of a philosophy be suicidal? By maintaining an intrinsic contradiction in the philosophy. Many people live this contradiction, reaching for an ideal that they know not is impossible. They think that any time they purchase an SUV, a house, a new stereo system, or bread, they are doing wrong—they are taking for the self and not giving of the self. The contradiction of the philosophy of altruism is the belief in self-deprecation, self-sacrifice, self-destruction. An individual, let alone a society, can not prosper where all actively seek death.
Selfishness enables life and allows for happiness. As stated, all beings are selfish to a certain degree; the ideal, however, is complete selfishness. To care only for what enables and furthers one's life. This perfection is know as rational egoism—constantly acting only in one's best interest. Few people strive for this ideal, let alone actualize it. Some hold a fog, an undeveloped presage, of this ideal as their goal. These people struggle constantly with decisions between pursuing personal goals and giving in to immediate demands (that are opposed to the person's rational self interest) of friends or family. They fear for the opinion of others, or worse, recognize an inherent obligation of the self to others. Fear not, and stand proudly. This life is yours, and the degree to which you hold this as true is proportional to the life you will enjoy. Egoists may stand alone, or they may choose to stand together—egoists are not antisocial. An egoist is often interested in others. Spending time with friends who share or embody an excellence of spirit (used here not in the non-material sense but as a passion for life) is often a rewarding experience. Synergy experienced by enthusiastic groups benefit all individuals in a selfish way; a rationally interested individual would choose to engage with others for this purpose. Selfishness and egoism are not egotism (expecting or seizing the unearned) or hedonism (yielding to the expediency of the moment)—two other concepts it is often confused with.
To live consistently (without contradiction) requires an explicit and relentless exercising of one's capacity to determine and fulfill one's rational self interest. This is the only means for life at its highest.
“If you think self interest is the same as Nature Herself”
Who does that? What does that mean?
“Everyone for himself, and the devil take the hindmost. If you want something, take it, and if the other fellow objects, kill him. Contrary to expectations, this kind of attitude does not lead to great happiness.”
No, but egoism does.
Of course, what you desribe has nothing to do with egoism as the author describes. Even though the author points out the common error of confusing egoism with egotism and hedonism, you still make that mistake.
“Just like all things in life there must be a balance.”
This is at best a rule of thumb, not a philosophy. Even as a rule of thumb, it is too vague and fraught with exceptions.
“Just imagine if everyone were purely selfish. Even the most powerful who would shoulder the weaker out of the way for their own survival would eventually be taken down by others.”
The post was about selfishness as egoism. The article describes it, but you must read it. If you had read it, I don’t think you would have made the mistake that you did here. “Shoulder[ing] the weaker out of the way” does not characterize the egoist.
“Unless the selfish egotist wants your stuff; then you are dead.”
That may be true. But then the article espouses egoism, not egotism.
Irrational egoism?
“I realized early on in my adult life that i had to be selfish to a degree in order to take care of myself...so i, in turn, could take care of my children.”
Yes! Egoism is about vigorously defending—and never sacrificing—your values, presuming your values are rationally determined.
It is not inconceivable that an egoist may even face near certain death in defense of those values (such as husband for a wife, or mother for her child). Although an egoist always prefers to LIVE for his values.
How does this differ from selflessness? A selfless person feels guilty when he acts for his values. When he has the opportunity to spend 24-7 helping and advancing one human being (himself) he prefers to instead stifle that person to advance some stranger (who may or may not share his values—thus sacrificing a known value for an uncertain one) or even someone who demonstrably opposes his values. He arbitrarily discriminates against himself for the mere reason that it IS himself.
In short, a selfless person values value-destruction. His life is a contradiction—and he is often a neurotic.
“Hitler pursued what he believed was his self interest”
Rationality is not subjective. It is conformance with objective reality. Hitler’s interest was decidedly irrational on many fronts, from his mysticism to his military strategies.
Of course one can be in error. Omniscience doesn’t exist. However, since reality budges for no man, repeatedly flying headfirst against it may eventually split your skull.
“No disrespect but “Live your own life, period” sounds pretty cold to me.”
Not as cold as threatening to put me behind bars unless I throw my hard-earned money at someone I know does not support my highest values.
Well it sounded like the same philosophy but I am not so well versed as to make a certain declaration. I do remember an interview and a movie clip about her. But as interesting as she was, the exclusion of God will not be the path I choose.
Thanks for the ping/info. Thanks to all contributors to this really good thread.
How disgusting.
I hope you read post #30 at
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1854750/posts?page=30#30
True, Hitler did advocate (for others) State over Individual. He was a socialist. But he clearly put himself first in pursuit of what he believed to be his self interest....ie. achieving a great destiny, at the cost of millions of lives and the near destruction of Germany.
Read a bio on Hitler....his actions were all about him and his goal of greatness.
I haven’t. Thanks for the link. Lots of good reading material tonight and this week.
“That may be true. But then the article espouses egoism, not egotism.”
Thanks for pointing that out; -ist instead of -tist.
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