Synopsis
From childhood, we're taught one central, non-controversial idea about morality: self-sacrifice is a virtue. It is universally accepted that serving the needs of others, rather than our own, is the essence of morality. To be ethical - it is believed - is to be altruistic. Questioning this belief is regarded as tantamount to questioning the self-evident. Here, Peter Schwartz questions it. In Defense of Selfishness refutes widespread misconceptions about the meaning of selfishness and of altruism. Basing his arguments on Ayn Rand's ethics of rational self-interest, Schwartz demonstrates that genuine selfishness is not exemplified by the brutal plundering of an Attila the Hun or the conniving duplicity of a Bernard Madoff. To the contrary, such people are acting against their actual, long-range interests. The truly selfish individual is committed to moral principles and lives an honest, productive, self-respecting life. He does not feed parasitically off other people. Instead, he renounces the unearned, and deals with others - in both the material and spiritual realms - by offering value for value, to mutual benefit.
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About the Author
Peter Schwartz is retired Chairman of the Board of Directors, and currently a Distinguished Fellow, of the Ayn Rand Institute-the pre-eminent organization for the dissemination of Ayn Rand's ideas. Schwartz is the founding editor and publisher of The Intellectual Activist (1979-1991). He is often interviewed on radio and TV, by such personalities as Geraldo Rivera and Thom Hartmann. He lives in Danbury, CT.
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