Rational Egoism: Strategic Self-Interest in Modern Warfare

By Fouad Sabry

What is Rational Egoism

Rational egoism is the principle that an action is rational if and only if it maximizes one's self-interest. As such, it is considered a normative form of egoism, though historically has been associated with both positive and normative forms. In its strong form, rational egoism holds that to not pursue one's own interest is unequivocally irrational. Its weaker form, however, holds that while it is rational to pursue self-interest, failing to pursue self-interest is not always irrational.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Rational egoism

Chapter 2: Ayn Rand

Chapter 3: Applied ethics

Chapter 4: Consequentialism

Chapter 5: Ethical egoism

Chapter 6: Egoism

Chapter 7: Objectivism

Chapter 8: Psychological egoism

Chapter 9: Utilitarianism

Chapter 10: Derek Parfit

(II) Answering the public top questions about rational egoism.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Rational Egoism.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: Jun 3, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Rational egoism

Rational egoism (also known as rational selfishness) is the idea that an activity is rational if and only if it maximizes an individual's self-interest.

Originally a component of Russian nihilism, it was popularized in English-speaking countries by Russian-American author Ayn Rand.

Rational egoism (Russian: разумный эгоизм) emerged as the dominant social philosophy of the Russian nihilist movement, originating in the writings of nihilist thinkers Nikolay Chernyshevsky and Dmitri Pisarev.

However, Their vocabulary was extensively obscured to circumvent official censorship, and neither philosopher openly mentions rational egoism in their works.

Ayn Rand, the author and philosopher, also outlines a theory she terms rational egoism. It is foolish and immoral, according to her, to act against one's self-interest. Thus, her perspective is a combination of logical egoism (in the conventional sense) and ethical egoism, because, according to Objectivist philosophy, egoism cannot be properly justified without a rational epistemology.

Her 1964 book The Virtue of Selfishness elaborates on the concept of reasonable egoism. A rational man, according to Ayn Rand, sees his own life as his highest value, rationality as his highest virtue, and his happiness as his life's ultimate goal.

In contrast, Rand was quite dismissive of altruism as an ethical concept:

Do not conflate altruism with kindness, goodwill, or regard for others' rights. These are not fundamentals, but rather consequences, which altruism really renders impossible. The irreducible principle of altruism, the fundamental absolute, is self-sacrifice, which is self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, and self-destruction, which means the self as a measure of evil and the selfless as a measure of good. Do not hide behind such trivialities as whether or not you should give a beggar a cent. Not this is the issue. The question is whether or not you have the legal right to exist without handing him that dollar. The question is whether you must continue to purchase your life, dime by dime, from any beggar who approaches you. The question is whether the needs of others are the first mortgage on your life and your moral raison d'être. The problem is whether or not humans should be considered sacrifices. Any man with self-respect will respond, No. Altruism affirms:.

The English philosopher Derek Parfit, who extensively examines rational egoism in Reasons and Persons, offers two arguments to rational egoism (1984). First, from the rational egoist perspective, it is reasonable to contribute to a pension system now, despite the fact that doing so is damaging to one's immediate interests (which are to spend the money now). Given that one's motives are not just related to him, but also to him as he is now, it appears equally rational to maximize one's interests today (and not his future self, who is argued to be a different person). Since the connections between one's present mental state and one's future mental state may weaken, Parfit argues that it is implausible to assert that one should be indifferent between one's present and future selves.

{End Chapter 1}

Chapter 2: Ayn Rand

Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum) is well-known for her literature as well as her development of Objectivism, a philosophical theory. In 1926, after being born and schooled in Russia, she emigrated to the United States. After the initial failure of her first two novels and the production of two plays on Broadway, she rose to prominence with her 1943 novel The Fountainhead. In 1957, Rand published Atlas Shrugged, her best-selling novel. Then, until her death in 1982, she promoted her philosophy through nonfiction, publishing her own publications and various collections of writings.

She rejected faith and religion and championed reason as the sole means of attaining truth. She opposed altruism in favor of reasonable and moral egoism. She opposed collectivism, statism, and anarchism, and deemed the use of force wrong in her political views. She advocated laissez-faire capitalism, which she characterized as a system that recognizes individual rights, including private property rights. Despite Rand's opposition to libertarianism, which she considered as anarchism, she is frequently identified with the modern American libertarian movement. Rand promoted romantic realism in art. She was quite critical of the majority of thinkers and philosophical traditions she was familiar with, with the exception of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and classical liberals.

The novels of Ayn Rand have sold over 37 million copies. Her literature earned mixed reviews from literary reviewers, with her later works receiving increasingly scathing reviews. Her writings have impacted some right-libertarians and conservatives on the political spectrum. The Objectivist movement disseminates her views to the general public and academic institutions.

Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum was born in Saint Petersburg to a Russian-Jewish bourgeois family on February 2, 1905.

After the Russian Revolution, when universities were accessible to women, Rand was among the first to enroll at Petrograd State University.

The sale of her screenplay Red Pawn to Universal Studios in 1932, while it was never realized, was Rand's first literary success.

In the 1940s, Rand engaged in political activity. She and her husband were full-time volunteers during the 1940 presidential campaign of Republican Wendell Willkie.

1943 marked Ayn Rand's first big literary success with The Fountainhead,

This article's original text is available on Wikisource:

Ayn Rand's testimony before the Un-American Activities Committee of the House of Representatives.

Rand became active with the anti-communist Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and authored articles on the group's behalf while working in Hollywood. She also became a member of the anti-Communist American Writers Association.

Following the release of The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand received numerous emails from readers whom the book had significantly impacted.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rand developed and disseminated her Objectivist ideology through her nonfiction writings and college student lectures.

In 1964, Nathaniel Branden began an affair with the young actress Patrecia Scott, whom he would eventually marry. The affair between Nathaniel and Barbara Branden was concealed from Rand. When she discovered it in 1968, her love relationship with Branden had already ended, Rand identified her literary approach as romantic realism..

Rand's favorite authors in school were Fyodor Dostoevsky, Victor Hugo, Edmond Rostand, and Friedrich Schiller.

Rand termed her philosophy Objectivism and defined its essence as the concept of man as a heroic person, with his own happiness as the moral end of his life, with productive success as his finest activity, and reason as the one absolute..

In metaphysics, Rand favored philosophical realism and rejected mysticism, supernaturalism, and all kinds of organized religion.

Rand maintained that rational and ethical egoism (rational self-interest) should serve as the driving moral principle in ethics. She stated that a person must live for his own sake, neither giving himself to others nor others to himself..

Excepting Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and classical liberals, Rand was harshly critical of all philosophers.

Night of January 16th garnered Rand's earliest reviews. The majority of reviews for the Broadway play were positive, but Rand deemed even positive reviews embarrassing because the producer made considerable alterations to her script.

With approximately 37 million copies sold as of the year 2020, Ayn Rand's novels are still extensively read.

Despite rejecting the terms conservative