Audio version of my 42-page journal article “Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand.” Table of Contents: Part One: On Critiquing Altruism [MP3] [YouTube] [64 minutes] Three Nietzsches and Ayn RandSome Intellectuals on Nietzsche and RandEgoism, altruism, and “selfishness”A Nietzschean sketch: * God is dead * Nihilism’s symptoms * Two bio-psychological types * Psychology and morality * […]
*Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand* [audio-book version] Read More »
Reprising this intriguing passage from Berel Dov Lerner’s review of Moshe Halbertal’s On Sacrifice (2012): ‘Halbertal claims that despite all its transcendent glory, adoption of the notion of “sacrifice for” can generate especially terrible consequences: “misguided self-transcendence is morally more problematic and lethal than a disproportionate attachment to self-interest” (78, italics in original). How does
Self-sacrifice as more threatening than self-interest Read More »
Cuando el Altruismo se vuelve patológico Por Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D. ¿Quién es más propenso a engañar? ¿Aquellos que practican deportes individuales o aquellos que practican deportes en equipo? Traducido al Español por María Marty, 2016. English: “When Altruism Becomes Pathological”.
In this unit of Atlas University’s course on Socialism: Rand analyzes a major shift in leftist strategy—the narrative shift from Old Left to New Left defenses of socialism as the ultimate moral system. Their fundamental principles of “mysticism-altruism-collectivism” have not changed—rather the New Left is “cruder and more honest” in its explicit goals and practical
Ayn Rand, “The Left: Old and New” [Atlas Intellectuals] Read More »
“It is not as easy as you imagine to be a pure egoist, and none such have ever succeeded. The apparent egoism of great nations and of great men is the inevitable sternness with which anyone who has his life fixed on some undertaking must bear himself. When we are really going to do something
Ortega y Gasset on egoism and dedication to purpose Read More »
[This is a Portuguese translation of “When Altruism Becomes Pathological”, originally published in English at EveryJoe.] Quem é mais propenso a trapacear — praticantes de esportes individuais ou de esportes coletivos? Um experimento fascinante realizado pelo professor Sharon K. Stoll, publicado no Chronicle of Higher Education, compara atletas de esportes individuais como golfe ou tênis simples
Quando o altruísmo torna-se patológico [Portuguese translation] Read More »
A good journalistic piece in The New York Times: “The Perverse Effects of Rent Regulation.” (Thanks to R.M. for the link.) Rent control is a classic case of bad economics and bad ethics. The bad economics is ignorance of unintended consequences — in this case a price control that makes the initial problem worse. The
Davidson on rent control as “perverse” Read More »
My lengthy journal article entitled “Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand” [pdf] is now publicly available for free at the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies‘ site. The abstract: “Philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand are often identified as strong critics of altruism and arch advocates of egoism. In this essay, Stephen Hicks argues that Nietzsche and
“Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand” at JARS Read More »