Pojman's Theory Of Selfishness Essay

Pojman, who is a severe critic of Rand, in his reconstruction of the latter's arguments, puts forward a theory that the argument provided by Rand is a very destructive one for the society as it encourages an individual to put their own happiness and their own selfish motives ahead of other's good. According to Pojman, Rand believes that selfishness is a virtue and altruism is a vice. Pojman further criticizes the theory where Rand clearly mentions that altruism requires self-sacrifice. As the sacrifice of our interests is not aligned with the real interests of an individual, it shall never leads to happiness.

The theory put forward by Pojman clearly captures the essence of Rand's argument. According to Rand, true-altruism and true-egoism are …show more content…
She has portrayed self-interest or ethical egoism as being equivalent to selfishness and also supported it saying that it leads to the true sense of happiness. She has not distinguished the fine line that separates both these principles of morality. However, ethical egoism cannot be coherently equated with selfishness because it can be in one's own interests to help others. Self-interest lies in striving for our good and working to gain benefits and pleasure, but not at the cost of others' wellbeing and happiness. On the other hand, selfishness might involve harming others for the purpose of the self-gain and one's own self-centered ulterior motives. Going by Rand's argument, it would be absurd for a husband to spend a fortune in treating his wife's terminal illness as it portrays altruism and involves sacrificing his money for her welfare. But in reality, the husband does so to get rid of the distress and misery that would be caused by the suffering of his wife. Also, the price paid by the husband seems less in return of his wife's better health and life. Thus, putting self-interest over others' legitimate interests is not morally correct. Rand's theory fails to see this huge difference in her extremist