The Objectivist Ethics - 3

(Originally written June 29, 2006 in Book 3)

The Objectivist Ethics
Ayn Rand

The social principle of objectivist ethics is that since man is an end in and of himself, and every man is such an end, one ought not ever sacrifice one's self to others, nor ever sacrifice another to himself.

"The achievement of his own happiness is man's highest moral purpose" (Rand, 27)

Linehan - If happiness is the highest form of morality, then let us live as children and pursue nothing but folly. Let us be controlled by whims. There is nothing happier than a smiling child.

"Happiness is the successful state of life, suffering is the warning signal of failure, of death" (Rand, 27).

Emotions - automatic results of men's value judgements integrated by his subconscious; they are the estimates of that which furthers man's values or threatens them.

"Since man has no automatic knowledge, he can have no automatic values; since he has no innate ideas, he can have no innate value judgments" (Rand, 28).

Man's cognitive ability and emotional mechanism are tabula rasa at birth. Then the cognitive faculty provides its contents.

For those who choose values of mysticism (religious values) "his alleged happiness is the measure of his success in the service of his own destruction" (Rand, 28).

Happiness for the mystic cannot be truly called happiness or pleasure because it is merely a relief from his perpetual state of terror, which he has chosen to thrust himself into.

John Galt - "Happiness is a state of non-contradictory joy - a joy without penalty or guilt, a joy that does not clash with any of your values and does not work for your own destruction... Happiness is possible only to a rational man, the man who desires nothing but rational goals, seeks nothing but rational values and finds his joy in nothing but rational actions" (Rand, 29).

Maintenance of life is the pursuit of happiness.

While achieving happiness is the ultimate good, doing whatever makes one happy is following whims and living in the moment pure, true happiness is grabbed solely through rationality.

Hedonism is not the goal.

Happiness is the purpose, not the standard of ethics in objectivism. Whereas happiness is the standard in hedonism.

Hedonistic and altruistic ethics produce moral cannibalism.

Human good does not require human sacrifice because rational interests of men do not clash.

"The principle of trade is the only rational ethical principle for all human relationships, personal and social, private and public, spiritual and material. It is the principle of justice" (Rand, 31).

Linehan - There is no love then. Love, true love, by nature, is selfless. Therefore it cannot be rational. This is absurd. Love is not a barter system.

One must only seek to be loved for their accomplishments, not their flaws.

Linehan - Love is the exchange of soul to soul connections in spite of flaws, not a degradation of the man or woman for being flawed.

Only rationally selfish beings are capable of love. Self-esteem precedes love.

Knowledge and trade are the two great values of human society.

"The basic political principle of the objectivist ethic is no man may initiate the use of physical force against others" (Rand, 32).

The role of government is to protect man's rights, i.e., protect him from physical violence.

"Without property rights, no other rights are possible" (Rand, 32).

Capitalism, pure laissez-faire, is the only politico-economic system which fits the objectivist ethic. If man is to have a future as man, then this system must be implemented.

The three great ethical systems, the mystic, the social and the subjective have caused the mess humanity is in today.

Immorality is not the cause of our present destructive world; it is the moralities being practiced that have caused it.

The rejection of altruism is man's only hope for salvation.