Name Five Women In Philosophy. Bet You Can't.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

12. I started to read "The Virtue of Selfishness"

On the first or second page, Rand has a "definition" of altruism that no actual altruist would accept -- that which benefits others is good, that which benefits the altruist is bad. The first part of this definition is so simplistic as to be laughable. As for the second part, an actual altruist would say that an act which benefits the altruist and does not harm others is at worst morally neutral and is probably good.

Since she began her argument with the Straw Man fallacy, I saw no reason to continue.

Someone said about her, "I had a hard time with Ayn Rand because I found myself enthusiastically agreeing with the first 90% of every sentence, but getting lost at 'therefore, be a huge asshole to everyone.'"

Someone else wrote, "There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

Yes, I suppose she is a philosopher. But her philosophy is crap.