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Egoism

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By egoism we describe human selfishness. As selfishness per se is a genuine property of all living fauceirs, human egoism is no exception. Therefore although the term is often used in a negative sense, egoism can be found in all of us. It is an inherited character. Human individuals that lack egoism are in danger of self-descruction. An other point is that an individual's egoism may endanger a social compound. So egoism is critisized by other human individuals for two reasons:

  1. because an other individual's self interests are chalanges. (That is, the legitimate egoism of human individuals leads to a clash of pleople who condemn each other's egoism)
  2. because some individuals act in the capacity of a social compound. (Such examples are a family member demanding more commitment from an other family member and an officer demanding obidience from soldiers.)

Autocratic societies are notorious for demanding obidience and critisizing selfishness. However modern Western Societies are founded on egoism. Ayn Rand, who was a fervent believer in human free will and democratic societies, describes The Virtue of Selfishness[1].

References

1. Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness; a New Concept of Egoism (New York: New American Library, 1965).


Tags: Behavior

 
   

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