A Critique of Ayn Rand’s A Virtue of Selfishness: Discovering the Virtue of Altruism
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A personal perspective on altruism and self-sacrifice
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We must condemn Ayn Rand’s Objectivist ethics’ denouncement of altruism and altruistic moral philosophy. Rand’s objection to altruist ethics lies in an ideologically skewed, egotistical and anthropocentric pseudo-reality, in which men and women ought to be the sole beneficiaries of their actions. As such, posited in her A Virtue of Selfishness, altruism “permits no view of men [or women] except as sacrificial animals and profiteers-on-sacrifice, as victims and parasites,” (Rand ix). Thus, to become virtuous in the eyes of Rand, one must contain the three virtues of reason, purpose, and self-esteem, along with their concomitant values of rationality, productiveness, and pride, respectively (Rand 27). While this paper will have its foundation built off the arguments of Rand, its overarching goal is to rebuke, or critique, her arguments through a reflection of my own experiential knowledge gained as a result of my community involvement, or altruistic behavior. I further contend and will aim to illustrate that altruism provides not only the ability to hold the mentioned virtues of reason, purpose, and self-esteem, but also the opportunity to develop a sense of reality, and a sense of spiritual growth. As such, we must not look through the lens of Rand’s pseudo-reality, and we must not become ignorant to the virtue of altruism.
When considering the virtue of reason, Rand believes it to be the source of rationality, or the ability to think; one must choose to use their thought – their conscience – in order to be virtuous, and they must choose to use it for their own benefit (Rand 25-27). What Rand fails to account for in this idea of rational selfishness is the problem of human posterity. In my own experience volunteering with St. John’s Breadline in Springfield, IL, there was not only the need for a large-scale altruistic commitment, but also the need to recognize that humans are struggling day-to-day who have no means of overcoming their hardships alone. These individuals who come through the breadline are often disabled, both physically and mentally, paraplegic, unable to communicate, ill, homeless, facing addiction, alone and have lost their families, been mentally abused, physically abused, are our nation’s own veterans, have been neglected and are unable to be helped by any other sort of governmental agency, have to work multiple jobs to support their families, and yes, even children come to eat at the breadline consistently. With this in mind, there is no possibility that any reasonable human would dismiss these individuals’ needs and label them as ‘parasites,’ ‘leeches,’ or even ‘moral cannibals’ feeding on the well-off population, such as Rand would. Without the presence of the breadline, some of these individuals would surely succumb to the effects of prolonged hunger; that is, we would choose to let our fellow humans die simply because we did not want to spend even three hours – a singular volunteer shift at the breadline – outside of our own egotistical fairyland. We must ask ourselves if this is truly the world we want to live in.
This experience at the breadline not only has shaped my view on the reality of the world outside of my own comfortable, and even privileged life, but it frightened me too. I truthfully did not want to go back after first volunteering; the other volunteer and I both had to be walked in and out to our cars as a safety precaution. However, I came to realize what is most important is that these individuals did not fail themselves. They were given no chance to succeed, often being born into non-sustainable home lives, facing debilitating or even terminal illnesses, and not given the opportunities a “successful” individual may have received growing up. This is not a matter of self-destruction or the conscious choice to pursue Rand’s anti-life; we as a society have failed them. When looking outside of Rand’s misguided lens, it is clear that by serving individuals faced with hardship, such as those who rely on the breadline for their next meal, we are thinking for ourselves – we are thinking for the next generations of humanity, and of our own families.
As for the virtue of purpose, Rand describes it as a quality in which an individual has a focus of productiveness. This said productiveness is further characterized by working towards reshaping the Earth to satisfy one’s own values, such that they must refrain from death. This is the central purpose of one’s life (Rand 29). Now, having volunteered a significant amount of time in the past year with the Animal Protective League (APL) in Springfield, IL, there is another angle we must consider towards understanding this described virtue of purpose. While perhaps just another animal shelter at first glance, the APL, through its staff and animals, has taught me more about satisfactory productiveness and its connection to altruism than any book, moral theory, opinion, or perspective could have. That is, you have to look deeper into why the staff do what they do there. On a daily basis, whether volunteers are present or not, staff take care of many animals and their needs, and they remain satisfied getting paid significantly less while carrying out far greater responsibilities than that of the average job. Throughout my months with the APL, never once have I met anyone who did not have a smile on their face or been full of kindness. Now, if Rand’s theory was correct, this happiness and satisfaction demonstrated by the APL staff, myself included, for the altruistic work we do would be considered a vice; however, is contentment of the soul not the end goal of a moral compass?
To get an even better understanding of the mindset of the staff, I was able to have a short interview with Mary Close, the Volunteer and Shelter Operations Coordinator at the APL. When getting to speak with her, one line of hers stood out to me. Ms. Close stated that it was by accident that she ended up at the APL, but if she could go back she would choose it over again in a heartbeat (Close). The work of staff members at the APL, such as Ms. Close, has spoken to me far louder of the value of altruism than any word offered by Rand. Through volunteering with the APL, it is plain that not everyone’s sense of productivity and needs are the same. There must be a consideration of people whose needs are met by acts of altruism through their own self-fulfillment. For these types of individuals, a life without working towards the greater good of society would be considered the anti-life. Although Rand may call this suicide, some may call it the deepest form of contentment, all-the-while still reshaping the Earth to meet their own values.
Finally, the virtue of self-esteem can be found in A Virtue of Selfishness as Rands states that pride, the result of self–esteem, can best be described as “moral ambitiousness,” meaning that one has reached the ability to “hold oneself as one’s own highest value by achieving one’s own moral perfection” (Rand 29). That is, moral perfection is conceived of in the sense that one is the only beneficiary of one’s own actions. By Rand, one necessarily must find pride in the holding of this quality. Prior to 2020 and into the spring of 2021 I was involved in Buddy Break, a respite program through my church that provided parents of special-needs children a break one day a month by pairing their child with volunteer “Buddies” and setting up activities for them to do together at the church. What always surprised me about these days volunteering for Buddy Break was the amount of joy the kids experienced while doing some of the simplest activities. I have come to believe this is rooted in the fact that kids with disabilities often do not have enough programs tailored to their needs, nor enough people willing to simply be with them, enjoy spending time with them, and accept them as they are. The activities and the one-on-one playful interactions meant a lot to them. Watching these kids become proud of themselves for accomplishing something they were scared or unsure of at first, like shooting a basketball in the hoop, making music, or even painting a pumpkin, gave me a real feeling of pride in the sense that I was able to help provide that opportunity for them. Thus, I strongly assert that pride too can accompany altruistic behavior.
I further sought to determine whether pride necessarily has to have a relationship with morality, as if it does, this would mean that altruistic behavior could be considered moral and to hold the described virtue of self-esteem. Reflecting back, whenever I would feel pride or a sense of satisfaction within myself while volunteering at Buddy Break, it was always when the children became happy or proud of themselves; and such, what always led the child to be proud of themselves was doing something that brought them pleasure or happiness. Thus, whether one considers themself a hedonist or non-hedonist, pleasure and happiness are considered to be the, or at least one of the indicators of morality. No matter what ethical guide one follows (action-based or virtue ethics), this sense of pride appears to be grounded in moral behavior. Thus, the Buddy Break program not only allowed me to understand the reality that children with special-needs face, but it allowed me to understand what pride and self-esteem truly are. Pride almost always is the result of performing a moral act in the mind of the actor. One can feel pride for acting as the beneficiary of their own action, such as the kids at Buddy Break, or as the result of altruistic behavior, such as in my case. Thus, I believe that my pride felt in this experience was the measure of moral behavior, and in this instance, the indication of the morality of altruistic behavior and the holding of Rand’s mentioned virtue of self-esteem.
It has become clear that one who finds those who practice altruism to be “self-destructive,” “profiteers on sacrifice,” “moral cannibals,” or “parasites” is one who is not acquainted with altruism itself. The one who fears altruism is the one who truly lacks self-esteem and faces a delusion that moral perfection is truly attainable. They confuse the virtue of purpose with having only one way of reaching self-fulfillment, and confuse reason with the idea that thinking for your own needs necessarily does not include the needs of others. For one who has experienced the effects on both sides of altruistic behavior knows that it is part of one’s spiritual journey towards finding truth in the world around them, as well as reaching the ability to know one’s own self. Altruism may in fact be a sacrifice, but it is a sacrifice aimed at a greater purpose. In the same sense that college is an investment in our future and some may be discouraged to attend college due to the short-term benefits of going straight into the workforce, altruism takes courage and commitment but what one finds at the end is necessarily that of contentment. I have found more than just reason, purpose, and a sense of pride and self-esteem in my journey of serving those other than myself. I have discovered the virtue of altruism. As Plato describes it in his allegory of the cave, I can see more than just the shadows. I can see past the egotistical ideology that shapes Rand’s pseudo-reality. I have obtained the ability to understand that individual human prosperity is just one aspect of our lives here on Earth. What matters is not that we all begin to live a life of pure altruism, for this would be unsustainable; rather, what matters is that we begin to see the morality and necessity of those who desire to and do live that life, or even a life consisting of a minimal level of altruistic behavior, in a way the Ayn Rand cannot. In the end, however, it is crucial that you do not take my ideas or experiences as absolute. That is, one must discover the virtue of altruism through their own experiences, on their own time, and in their own way.
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Works Cited
Close, Mary. Interview. Conducted by Jacob Pollock. 2 November 2023.
Rand, Ayn. and Nathaniel Branden. The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism. New York, New York. New American Library, 1964.