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Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: the Virtuous Egoist P1: KAE 0521860504pre CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:22 This page intentionally left blank ii P1: KAE 0521860504pre CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:22 Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics The Virtuous Egoist Ayn Rand is well known for advocating egoism, but the substance of that egoism’s instruction is rarely understood. Far from representing the rejection of morality, selfishness, in Rand’s view, actually demands the practice of a systematic code of ethics. This book explains the fundamental virtues that Rand considers vital for a person to achieve his objective well-being: rationality, honesty, independence, justice, integrity, productiveness, and pride. Tracing Rand’s account of the naturalistic ground of value and the harmony of human beings’ ratio- nal interests, Tara Smith examines what each of these virtues consists in, why it is a virtue, and what it demands of a person in practice. Along the way, she addresses the status of several conventional virtues within Rand’s theory, considering traits such as kindness, charity, generosity, temperance, courage, forgiveness, and humility. Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics thus offers an in-depth exploration of several specific virtues and an illuminating integration of these with the broader theory of egoism. Tara Smith is professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, Austin. She is the author of Moral Rights and Political Freedom and Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root and Reward of Morality, and she has contributed to the Journal of Philosophy, American Philosophical Quarterly, Social Philosophy and Policy, and Law and Philosophy. i P1: KAE 0521860504pre CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:22 ii P1: KAE 0521860504pre CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:22 Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics The Virtuous Egoist TARA SMITH University of Texas iii cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru,UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521860505 © Tara Smith 2006 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2006 isbn-13 978-0-511-19109-1 eBook (EBL) isbn-10 0-511-19109-x eBook (EBL) isbn-13 978-0-521-86050-5 hardback isbn-10 0-521-86050-4 hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. P1: KAE 0521860504pre CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:22 To the memory of my father, Gerald, who quietly taught me so much. v P1: KAE 0521860504pre CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:22 vi P1: KAE 0521860504pre CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:22 Contents Acknowledgments page ix 1.Introduction 1 2.Rational Egoism: A Profile of Its Foundations and Basic Character 19 3.The Master Virtue: Rationality 48 4.Honesty 75 5.Independence 106 6.Justice 135 7.Integrity 176 8.Productiveness 198 9.Pride 221 10.Implications for Certain Conventional Virtues: Charity, Generosity, Kindness, Temperance 247 Conclusion 284 Appendix: Egoistic Friendship 287 Select List of Works Consulted 305 Index 311 vii P1: KAE 0521860504pre CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:22 viii P1: KAE 0521860504pre CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:22 Acknowledgments I wish to express my gratitude for the many forms of assistance I have received on this project. A fellowship from the Anthem Foundation for the Study of Objectivism and a grant from the Charles Sures Memorial Scholarship Fund of the Ayn Rand Institute have both greatly facilitated my work on this book. The University of Texas has, on several occasions, granted my requests for reduced teaching loads to enable me to make the best use of those funds. Jeff Britting helpfully steered me to mate- rials in the Archives at the Ayn Rand Institute. My research assistants (serially: Allison Weinstein, Amy McLaughlin, Justin Tiehen, and Sheri- lyn Villareal) have been unfailingly diligent, allowing me the luxury of assurance that whatever I asked them to do would be done well. Marc Baer has compiled the Index. While I was writing a first, very rough draft of the book, I met weekly with a group of graduate students – John Elia, Tom Miles, Warren von Eschenbach, and Allison Weinstein – who raised all manner of ques- tions, objections, and alternative perspectives on my proposals ( just as I had hoped – and feared). The workout they gave my initial formula- tions proved extremely constructive. Onkar Ghate, Robert Mayhew, Amy Peikoff, Leonard Peikoff, and Greg Salmieri all participated in a work- shop on a draft of the chapter on independence; their extensive feed- back greatly improved that chapter. Audiences at Bowling Green State University, the University of Colorado, and the University of Georgia offered helpful reactions to material on friendship, which is treated in the Appendix. My understanding of the issues examined in this book has benefited, over the years, from discussions with more individuals than I can list ix P1: KAE 0521860504pre CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:22 x Acknowledgments here. Although those conversations varied a great deal in terms of their context, their frequency, their depth, and their breadth or narrowness of focus, I have gained important insights from numerous friends and colleagues – to each of whom I am sincerely grateful. I particularly wish to thank Leonard Peikoff, who, as I set to work on this book, issued an open invitation for me to raise with him whatever particular questions I encountered. On the occasions when I did so, he readily probed the issue with me at whatever length was necessary to fully clarify it. I am also extremely grateful to Allan Gotthelf who, while visiting at UT in the fall of 2002, conversed with me about several of the issues I discuss in the book. Moreover, near its completion, Allan Gotthelf and Robert Mayhew each read the entire manuscript and offered extensive comments, which have significantly strengthened the final product. Finally, I thank Beatrice Rehl at Cambridge University Press for her support on this project, as well as the staff at the Press for their work in seeing it through to the printed page. Some of the material in the book incorporates portions of essays (usu- ally substantially reworked) that I have previously published elsewhere. I thank the relevant editors and publishers for their permission to do this. Those essays are: “Tolerance and Forgiveness: Virtues or Vices?” Journal of Applied Philosophy 14, no. 1 (1997), pp. 31–41 (Blackwell); “The Practice of Pride,” Social Philosophy & Policy 15, no. 1 (1998), pp. 71–90 (Cam- bridge University Press); “Justice as a Personal Virtue,” Social Theory & Practice 25, no. 3 (1999), pp. 361–384; “The Metaphysical Case for Hon- esty,” Journal of Value Inquiry 37, no. 4 (2003), pp. 517–531 (Springer) (with kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media); “Morality Without the Wink: A Defense of Moral Perfection,” Journal of Philosophi- cal Research 29 (2004), pp. 315–331 (Philosophy Documentation Center); and “Egoistic Friendship,” American Philosophical Quarterly, forthcoming (University of Illinois Press). P1: JYD 0521860504c01 CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:24 1 Introduction Much recent discussion in ethics has danced around the edges of ego- ism, as renewed attention to virtue ethics, eudaimonia, and perfection- ism naturally raise questions about the role of self-interest in a good life. Although the ancient Greek conception of ethics that is currently enjoying a revival does not fit stereotypes of egoism, it certainly does not advocate altruism. As Rosalind Hursthouse acknowledges, much virtue ethics portrays morality as a form of enlightened self-interest.1 Although authors increasingly have defended aspects of egoism (see, for instance, David Schmidtz, Jean Hampton, Neera Badhwar),2 the overwhelming majority of ethicists remains averse not only to endorsing egoism but even to seriously considering it. Those who do speak on its behalf usually urge that we incorporate discrete elements of egoism, such as self-respect, alongside altruistic obligations. Rather than urge that we replace altruism with egoism, in other words, they seek to reconcile select self-beneficial qualities with the altruism that we all already “know” morality demands. This latter assumption remains ubiquitous. Christine Korsgaard’s claim 1 Rosalind Hursthouse, On Virtue Ethics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 190. Hursthouse does consider virtue ethics an “unfamiliar version of that view.” 2 David Schmidtz, “Reasons for Altruism,” Social Philosophy & Policy 10, no. 1 (Winter 1993), pp. 52–68; Schmidtz, “Self-Interest: What’s in it for Me?” Social Philosophy & Policy 14, no. 1 (Winter 1997), pp. 107–121; Neera Kapur Badhwar, “Altruism versus Self- Interest: Sometimes a False Dichotomy,” Social Philosophy & Policy 10, no. 1 (Winter 1993), pp. 90–117; Badhwar, “Self-Interest and Virtue,” Social Philosophy & Policy 14, no. 1 (Winter 1997), pp. 226–263; Jean Hampton, “Selflessness and the Loss of Self,” Social Philosophy & Policy 10, no. 1 (Winter 1993), pp. 135–165; Jean Hampton, “The Wisdom of the Egoist: The Moral and Political Implications of Valuing the Self,” Social Philosophy & Policy 14, no. 1 (Winter 1997), pp. 21–51. 1 P1: JYD 0521860504c01 CUNY333B/Smith 0521 86050 4 January 30, 2006 13:24 2 Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics that “ ...moral conduct by definition is not motivated by self-interest” is typical.3 Consequently, the questions raised by these recent developments in moral philosophy have not been adequately pursued.
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