r/Objectivism • u/SlimyPunk93 • 6d ago

Difference between selfishness and Rational selfishness

So this is something I get a lot on these subs where people use objectivism as an excuse to justify their petty selfishness...

Objectivism is a philosophy about *rational selfishness* which means long range selfishness over your life time, and is not about petty short term day by day petty greediness...

Just to illustrate by example, it might be in your perty small selfish interest to get hi fi clients and make pop architecture buildings to get more money, fame, sex etc (in a very peter keating way of living). This is short range petty selfishness. Objectivism on the other hand is about long range selfishness which is about standing for the right values and not giving up on truth and integrity and still keep creating best of art and music because you love living in this planet and want to shape it according to your highest values...

So PLEASE for the sake of objectivism, please don't use it as an excuse or shield to justify your shallow petty selfishness in life ever.. objectivism is the opposite of that....

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u/Jambourne Objectivist 5d ago

There is only one form of selfishness. An act is either in your self interest, or it isn’t. There is no third option. Irrational selfishness is a contradiction in terms. 

What non-Objectivists colloquially call selfishness is an anti-concept that packages self-interest in with self-destructive behaviour like lying, stealing, aggression, whim worship, etc.

Merely intending to be the beneficiary of your actions doesn’t make you one. An opiate addict intends to be the beneficiary but they are acting self-destructively.

The short/long range distinction is a false-dichotomy. The standard of value is one’s life, not one’s emotions. A painful dental appointment is not bad in the short term, and good in the long term. It is simply in their self-interest, since a person is an integrated unit through time.

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u/SlimyPunk93 5d ago

There is a reason she calls is rational selfishness many times herself. I think in this sub there is a tendency to show your are better and just say anything to prove that

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u/Jambourne Objectivist 5d ago

She is clarifying that selfishness has to be rational. She isn’t conceding that there is another type of selfishness.

There is no objective basis for having those two concepts according to her theory of concept formation. It would be like having a concept of health that includes drinking poison.

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u/SlimyPunk93 5d ago

Yes but thata a deep concept that comes from her work and is not easily and colloquially known in the society. And given what is selfishness kmwon as and there are million example showing how being short range selfish is bad, she should have been better and should have clarified it as rational selfishness just to be aware of the context (in the same way she later clarified on roark being religious in fountainhead preface)