Selfishness: What If It Is A Virtue?

Selfishness is a virtue when our actions, motivated by concern for our self-interest, do not trample on the rights of others.

You may have asked, “Is it wrong to be selfish?” when you were accused of being selfish when you chose to act in pursuit of your own happiness, or when you prioritized your own interests, or when you followed your heart instead of fulfilling your mother's wish, or when you engaged in endeavors to acquire material wealth to enjoy a prosperous life. What if selfishness is a virtue?

Ayn Rand, a Russian-American philosopher and novelist, wrote her most important work on ethics, The Virtue of Selfishness, because she upholds that “to redeem both man and morality, it is the concept of selfishness that one has to redeem.” Noting that the exact meaning of selfishness is “concern with one’s own interests”, she discussed her philosophy that “the purpose of morality is to define man’s proper values and interests, that concern with his own interests is the essence of a moral existence, and that man must be the beneficiary of his own moral actions.” She explained that “a man’s interests depend on the kind of goals he chooses to pursue, his choice of goals depends on his desires, his desires depend on his values and, for a rational man, his values depend on the judgment of his mind.” She clarified that a rational man's choice of goals is based on reasoning and not on feelings or desires. She illustrated that a rational man acts only when he is able to say “I want it because it is right” and not just “because I want it” or “because I feel like it”. She specified that “man must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself.”

With the popular evil connotation of selfishness, accusations or implications of selfishness can used to intimidate and sow guilt and self-doubt on people acting to protect their own interests, to pursue personal growth and development, or to be happy. If they fail to see the virtue of selfishness, they become victims. “It is very selfish of you to ask me to pay my debt.” Why? “Only the selfish will prioritize their career over their parents' peace of mind.” Why? “Only selfish people buy expensive things.” Why? These intimidating statements condemn without giving reasons.

To be selfish is to take care of one's self, to pursue one's own happiness. People who sacrifice themselves to others are inclined to form expectations that someone else will make sacrifices for them and will give them happiness. These kinds of expectations are bound to result in resentments and frustrations. Maybe there will be people who will try to make them happy, but they may fail to recognize these attempts and thus fail to experience any happiness. Selfishness is a virtue when our actions, motivated by concern for our self-interest, do not trample on the rights of others. There is no virtue in deception or theft to protect self-interest. Rational selfishness does not support rebelliousness without cause. Rational selfishness conforms with the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31)

While the evil connotation of selfishness portrays a person capable of only loving one's self, according to Nathaniel Hawthorne, “selfishness is one of the qualities apt to inspire love”, but for Ayn Rand, “Only a rationally selfish man, a man of self-esteem, is capable of love because he is the only man capable of holding firm, consistent, uncompromising, unbetrayed values. The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.” According to Ayn Rand, “Love, friendship, respect, admiration are the emotional response of one man to the virtues of another, the spiritual payment given in exchange for the personal, selfish pleasure which one man derives from the virtues of another man’s character.”

Can you expect any help from rationally selfish people? Only when, by reference to their rational self-interest and their hierarchy of values: the time, money or effort they give or the risk they take is proportionate to your value in relation to their happiness. Rationally selfish people help others because it makes them happy.