The Spirit of Selfishness
0xtkgshn In general, I think that books on ethics, philosophy, and thought cannot be interpreted only by books. I think it's interesting to read widely, including through experience and exchange, since they are only in written form. (The "Spirit of Selfishness", although I recommend it, is more profound in conversation.)
0xtkgshn You shouldn't perceive the world based on altruism, like "exchanging Christmas presents that no one wants". You shouldn't do it, and others shouldn't do it either, because once you do that, there's no end to it, and on the contrary, it makes coordination more difficult. And the only thing that can be coordinated is selfishness.
0xtkgshn You have to do what you have to do to satisfy yourself. And we must continue to do what we do because we want to do it, not because it looks like altruism or kindness. The moment we do something that we interpret as thinking of the other person, we create strange expectations. If everyone is selfishly doing the exchange, it will not happen.
[/tkgshn/the spirit of selfishness](https://scrapbox.io/tkgshn/the spirit of selfishness). [/tkgshn/ "The Spirit of Selfishness" reading notes](https://scrapbox.io/tkgshn/ "The Spirit of Selfishness" reading notes).
Actions for one's own benefit are evil. - Sklavenmoral (slave morality, as a philosophical concept of Nietzsche) I thought.
- There is first the common belief that "it is natural to act in one's own interest," and when everyone does it those with power benefit.
- As a result, those without power have [Reverse values
- Profit is evil, power is evil, using power for one's own benefit is evil.
2024-08-30 Originally titled The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism
「 selfish 」ってイコール「邪悪」みたいに思ってる人がいるけどおかしくないですか〜という主張
- I think altruism is more dangerous.
- Because altruism, by definition of moral values, is "what you do for others is good, what you do for yourself is bad."
- The moral value of an act is determined by its beneficiaries.
- Being moral hurts me.
- Resentment toward others because they are not allowed to do more for themselves, which creates a feeling of resentment that others should do more for them.
- Create guilt about living for yourself.
- It's like exchanging Christmas presents that the person being sent didn't choose, things they don't even want because it's not morally permissible to buy them for themselves."
Anything of value is produced by human activity.
- Altruism asserts that "the beneficiary of the value created is not the person who created it, but the person who did not act on it."
To attack selfishness is to attack the way people take care of themselves.
- I see.
- I'm just saying that the "selfishness v.s. altruism" kind of oppositional structure and "altruism is good, therefore selfishness is bad" choosing the wrong two options is not a good idea.
Translator's Comment
- Ayn Rand's Objectivism is an Ayn Rand-style paraphrase of the fundamentals of the philosophy of the European Enlightenment of modern Western rationalism, especially the ideals of the American founding.
- JFK.国が諸君に何をしてくれるかを問うな。諸君が国に対して何をできるかを問えとかも関連しそう
- Not what the country can do for you | Minidas, the miscellaneous encyclopedia of things to know | Information, knowledge & opinion imidas - imidas
- Oh, you're against this?
- The idea is that the state should not try to take value from the individual, but rather a mutually beneficial exchange.
- JFK.国が諸君に何をしてくれるかを問うな。諸君が国に対して何をできるかを問えとかも関連しそう
What is selfishness?
- What is beneficial for survival is "good" and what is harmful is "evil".
- By this definition, for those who can afford not to die right now, there's a probability that helping and ingratiating yourself with the dying around you will help you in future irregularities.
- By this definition, for those who can afford not to die right now, there's a probability that helping and ingratiating yourself with the dying around you will help you in future irregularities.
You can't survive without rationality based on a long-term perspective.
- In a tough environment, I'm sure they would.
- Japan has been at peace for so long that it doesn't ring a bell.
When Rand was 12 years old, the February Revolution (1917) occurred... The subsequent October Revolution and the establishment of the Bolshevik dictatorship led by Vladimir Lenin destroyed the Rand family's previous comfortable lifestyle. His father's pharmacy business was confiscated and the family was forced to relocate. The Rand family fled to Crimea, which was under the control of the White Army during the Russian Civil War.... After Rand graduated from high school in the Crimea at the age of 16, the family returned to Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg). Living conditions in Petrograd were terrible and at times they were on the verge of starvation.
- I see.
The ideal is a mutually beneficial relationship in which both parties exchange their acquired value by mutual agreement.
- It is parasitic to try to obtain someone else's value without producing and providing value
- Whoa, you're talking out of your ass.
- Whoa, you're talking out of your ass.
It is capitalism that defends this moral practice, a regime that interferes with and regulates consensual exchange between individuals is evil.
- I can feel the hate for Lenin. w
It is the night watchman state that protects the individual's right to survive and own property.
- The power to deter the violation of various rights by violence and use it only to fight back against violence.
When you don't have to worry about violence, you can focus on production.
Government operating funds should be voluntary payments from the public for services
- Whoa, he denied taxes.
Do not try to obtain anything of value without acquiring it through your own efforts!
- I guess it comes from the experience of being deprived of the value I (my parents) had by the system.
真善美の定義に関して、 pragmatism は「自分の人生に有益な知識が真」とするわけだが、アイン・ランドの利己主義は「自分の人生に有益な行為が善」とするわけだ
Selfishness here is rational and long term, not acting on short term desires to lose money later, so I think it is narrower than what is called "selfishness" in the world.
- Self-interested with a long-term view." That's a nice way to put it.
- I mean, Long-term investment, not altruism you say pretty much the same thing yourself.
Translator's note: Connecting philosophy with self-help guidelines
- A convincing expression. That's probably why this book is so well received by the masses and so poorly received by the intelligentsia.
Translator's Comment: Ayn Rand's Objectivism is considered to belong to the most libertarian libertarianism of liberalisms. He does not consider himself a libertarian.
- How one should live is usually a matter of personal choice, but Ayn Rand presents the pursuit of self-interest based on a long-term perspective as "the way one should live."
- I see, that's certainly an interference with freedom.
- The freedom to "decide for oneself how to live" is a burden for the masses.
- So there is a need for a "religion" that gives it to us.
- Ayn Rand gave the masses a "religion" of living selfishly, which is why she got the masses, and she thinks it's ideal that that religion become universal, so there's no freedom of religion.
- And donating to the church is going to be considered evil.
Who is making the criticism of atomistic and individualism against Adam Smith?
The criticism of Adam Smith as "atomistic and individualistic" has been made mainly by socialists and economists, especially Marxists, since the 19th century. For example, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels criticized Smith's economic theory as being individualistic and ignoring the relations and structure of society as a whole. They believed that Smith's economics lacked social and historical context and thus could not adequately explain the problems of capitalist society.
Some contemporary economists and social scientists also criticize Smith's theory as "atomistic individualism." They point out that Smith's market economy model relies too heavily on individual self-interested behavior and neglects the role of social cooperation or community. These criticisms are sometimes made from the perspective of socioeconomics and institutional economics.
Oh, it's on the next page >カール・マルクスとフリードリヒ・エンゲルス
- The translator who says "It's strange that we have the same problem but the conclusion is the exact opposite.
I didn't expect to see the yen carry trade, a hot topic in 2024, mentioned here (the book is 2008).
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