SELFISHNESS AS AN INERT HUMAN BEHAVIOR

by

Joseph Emmanuel L. Celis

Camille Andrea G. Del Prado
Gemwell N. Ilagan
Mika F. Nicasio
Danise Nicole M. Remanente
Jill Hannah N. Tolentino
Airah Villaruel

A Research Paper Presented

To the Senior High School Faculty
College of Education

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

For Practical Research 1

University of the East

March 2018
 APPROVAL SHEET

The Research Paper Entitled:

Selfishness as an Inert Human Behavior

Prepared and Submitted by:

Joseph Emmanuel L. Celis
Camille Andrea G. Del Prado
Gemwell N. Ilagan
Mika F. Nicasio
Danise Nicole M. Remanente
Jill Hannah N. Tolentino
Airah Villaruel

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

In the

Has Been Successfully Defended with the Grade of ____

And is Herby Accepted

Research Paper Committee

Name Name Name

Panel Member Panel Member Panel Member

Ms. Chloe Nicole Piamonte

Thesis Instructor

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ii
“To say ‘I love you’ one must know first how to say the ‘I.’”

Ayn Rand

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................................v
DEDICATION.............................................................................................................................. vi

ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................2
CHAPTER ONE: SELFISHNESS AND HUMAN VIRTUES .................................................6
Varying Views on Selfishness......................................................................................................6
What is selfishness ...............................................................................................................7
Selfishness as Negative Attribute ........................................................................................8
The Principles of Rational Egoism ..............................................................................................9

Rand’s Philosophy on Selfishness .............................................................................................10

CHAPTER TWO: THE INTRINSIC AIM OF SELFISHNESS.............................................11

Selfishness as the Path to Self-Identity ......................................................................................11

Selfishness at the Stairway to Responsibility ............................................................................13

Selfishness as the Bridge to Eudamonia ....................................................................................15

The Copacetic Product of the Matter .........................................................................................18

CHAPTER THREE: THE OBJECTIVIST PANORAMA ON SELFISHNESS ..................19

Selfishness as Rational Egoism ..................................................................................................19

The Legitimacy of Selfishness ....................................................................................................22

The Propagation of Rational Egoism ..........................................................................................24

CHAPTER FOUR: THE ILLATION ON SELFISHNESS ....................................................27

REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................31

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to express our deepest and most sincere gratitude to the people who made

this paper possible.

To our mentor, Ms. Chloe Piamonte, thank you for being our guide. You made this paper

possible. You taught us on how to create this. As we make our paper, you also taught us values

that will make us a better individual and of course a better team.

To the research team, thank you for all the efforts. This is finally the fruit of our blood,

sweat, and tears.

To our families, thank you for the endless support. Thank you also for the funds that

enabled us to produce this.

To the Almighty Father, thank You for everything. Thank You for Your wisdom,

knowledge, and grace. Nothing would be possible without You.

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For all the selfless people,

who are afraid to be selfish.

vi
 Abstract

The paramount intention of this paper is to establish selfishness as an inert human

behavior. The relation between selfishness and evil is irrational, as other people think so.

For an objectivist Ayn Rand, selfishness is not a negative trait. In fact, it is a virtue for us

to continue living and to pursue our own happiness.

We may be unaware of this trait for we visualize it negatively. We easily throw this as

an offense or an insult when in fact we are all selfish. What we ought to substantiate is to

derive selfishness as something that is existent within the human’s behavior and

something that is good. And for that, we will illuminate the study with the following

essential inquiries: (1) What is selfishness? (2) Is selfishness really an inert human

behavior? (3) Why is selfishness an inert human behavior? (4) Can selfishness do any

good to humans? And lastly conclude selfishness as an inert human behavior is basically

supposing that it is the concern on one's own interest and that this trait is within each and

every human being in this world. This paper may be facilitative in indicating that

selfishness is rather a virtue and not a negative attribute.

Keywords: selfishness, inert, behavior, self-interest, evil, virtue

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 INTRODUCTION

In this inconsistent and altering world, selfishness is particularly and generally

recognized as a grave sin being it included in the seven Deadly Sins written in the Bible

that has been going around in the society for years and counting. It is an attribute known

for its pessimistic concept contradicting the notion of values and virtues. Even as time

passes by, as the world continues to revolve and as people come and go, the perspective

regarding being selfish as a negative trait retains. But does selfishness actually come with

unusual positive things that can do good to one? Could it help one live a more prosperous

life by just possessing that one attribute the philosopher Ayn Rand was hated for, simply

for the reason that she promoted and supported it as something not evil but rather a

virtue?

This paper shall give one better view on the term selfishness. Selfishness will be

considered as the rational egoism the philosopher Ayn Rand canvassed and not the

selfishness that conjures a bad image of someone disregarding the needs of others just for

the sake of himself/herself, not heeding about whether they die or live, which is in short,

the bad perspective. And hoping that the time will come where in selfishness is no longer

a sin, but a quality that a person should have within.

On the Chapter One of the essay entitled "Selfishness and Human Virtues", it will

begin with the first section entitled "Varying Views on Selfishness" that will tackle about

2
the different perspectives and outlooks of people on selfishness. It will be followed by the

delineation of the term selfishness in the second section with a title "What is selfishness".

While on the third section entitled "Selfishness as Negative Attribute", it will be

conveyed how people regarded selfishness as an evil and malevolent act. Next, the said

chapter's fourth section entitled "The Principles of Rational Egoism" will discuss the

theory of self-interest by Ayn Rand and how it will be a key to one's goal and success in

life. And in the last section, with a title "Rand’s Philosophy of Selfishness", the writers of

this paper will provide a pithy introduction to the objectivist and philosopher Ayn Rand

who advocates selfishness as a virtue.

In the Chapter Two of our research, it will provide information regarding

selfishness in linkage to the previous chapters, works of some philosophers like Erik

Erikson, Melissa Deuter, and many more will be stated to help fortify our paramount

objective.

In the first part of Chapter Two, one will learn that selfishness is the path to know

our self-identity with the help of a discussion from an executive director from the

University of the Philippines, Cecilia Fe L Sta.Maria-Abalos. In the next part of Chapter

Two, it will be known that selfishness is the stairway to responsibility which by the help

of some known philosophers like Melissa Deuter, Bob Rosen, and Steven Seay, will be

strengthened. And for the last part of Chapter Two, which is “Selfishness as a bridge to

Eudaimonia (means happiness)” that by the help of the novel “What is to be done” by

Nikolai Chernyshevsky, and other more philosophers, will be proven and will be

strengthened. In the overall content of the second chapter, it will be concluded that

3
selfishness is an inert human behavior, and that selfishness does do good to humans

depending on how one utilizes it.

As the positive outcomes of having selfishness as an inert human behavior will be

elaborated in the antecedent chapter, the subsequent chapter entitled “The Objectivist

Panorama on Selfishness” will be discussing and fortifying the method used in the whole

paper which is called the rational egoism. By which, the said egoism promoted and

corroborated by the philosopher Ayn Rand will be the basis of the factual and pellucid

information regarding selfishness being an inert human behavior is a virtue.

The succeeding chapter which is the fourth one and is entitled “The Illation on

Selfishness” will be serving as the overall conclusion and/or summary of the whole

philosophical paper.

To finally conclude this paper, selfishness is essential to our lives. The way we

perceive it is just different. We ought to change that. We ought to bring change to the

society. Pursuing one's self-interest is never wrong as doing what makes one happy and

content is never a mistake. It is natural among us to do what we want. Being selfish is not

a sin, rather it is a virtue. Rational egoism which was thoroughly discussed and

elaborated by the objectivist, Ayn Rand, means pursuing one's own interest with a reason

behind it. The primary reason on why we pursue what we want is because we all want to

be happy. Being selfish also leads to fulfillment of knowing one’s self. It enables us to

focus on ourselves which leads to knowing ourselves deeply.

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 After all the discussions made in this paper, we hope to enlighten the society with

the kind of an enlightenment which could open the eyes of each and every one. An

enlightenment that could make selfishness acceptable. And an enlightenment that will

forever change the view of selfishness as something to despise of but rather a virtue to

desire.

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 CHAPTER ONE
SELFISHNESS AND HUMAN VIRTUES

The paramount intention of this chapter is to convey its significance and how it

may benefit the society and other researchers. It emphasizes on how selfishness became a

virtue needed by each and everyone. This will serve as a guide for the researchers and

readers as well on the outcome of the study.

Varying Views on Selfishness

Everything came from a respective origin just like how selfishness began to be

recognized as an evil act by the society. Our mindset as of today has been influenced by

our parents whom were members of the past generations. They taught us not to become

selfish but instead, to become selfless for it is what the society sincerely respects and

accepts. Selfishness is something that they neglected in a way that we neglect it too.

Generally, people equate selfishness to evil. For the church, they strongly believe

in altruism. Altruism is the opposite of selfishness. They prioritize the welfare of others

than theirs. They are morally obliged to sacrifice their own desires. 1 They see that

selfishness can be associated with one of the seven deadly sins which is greed. This has

been going on for years now. The past generations like our parents have always believed

1
J. Philippe Rushton, "Altruism and Society: A Social Learning Perspective," Ethics 92, no. 3
(Apr., 1982), 425.

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that we must serve other before ourselves. 2 Now, our generation does the same for this is

what we have learned from them.

What is selfishness

Selfishness is defined as the act of concerning on one’s own interest with

disregard of others. It is similar to self-care which refers to prioritizing your own

physical health and psychological well-being by engaging in good eating habits,

exercise, sleep, relaxation, and enjoyable activities every day. 3 And we must say that

prioritizing ourselves first is not immoral or anything near a sin but instead, it is helping

yourself develop something before you help others develop those too. If you try to look

at it that way, it is a two-sided or win-win situation. Conceding that the development

failed to progress, the development within the other being would fail too thus, helping

ourselves first is better than helping others first and not having a clue of what to do.

To reiterate the motive of this part of the chapter, selfishness is something that we

cannot extract from our lives because it is a part of the full package of being human. And

the fact that we have it in us does not mean we are unpleasant people. Even once in our

life, we decided to think of our own goods first before other beings. Sometimes we are

not even aware that we are already being selfish, and one example is how it is selfish to

think how selfish someone else is and that can actually be the beginning of the change.

2
See “Selfishness” in Believers, http://www.believers.org/believe/bel221.htm. Accessed January
07, 2018
3
John Johnson, “Good, Neutral, and Bad Selfishness” in Psychology Today,
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cui-bono/201501/good-neutral-and-bad-selfishness. Accessed:
December 18, 2017.

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The thing about selfishness is that it is never really a bad thing to think of yourself first

before the other, the reason behind this was because of the society's wrong notion about

it, that is why most of the people will look at you as a bad person once this act was seen.

Selfishness as Negative Attribute

An act of selfishness is everywhere sometimes we are just not aware of it. Many

of us are actually terrified to become selfish. It is easily interpreted as a flaw, insult, and

offense. When we start to think of our own self before anyone else’s, they easily call us

out as a selfish person. When we receive that as a judgement, we tend to double check

our actions and find out why we were called such thing when in fact we just want to

prioritize ourselves. 4 According to Ayn Rand’s philosophy being selfish is not wrong,

unlike how people always perceive it. You are just putting your own interest first before

anyone else because it leads to your happiness. Selfishness is actually a virtue that

humans should possess. People need to give regards on their own welfares in order to

attain one's happiness. Selfishness is an essential human behavior for it is concern with

one's own well-being.

People only do the right thing because they fear being punished if they get

caught. 5 The society thinks that being selfless is the right thing to do. We don’t want to

be selfish because we don’t want to commit a mistake in the eyes of the society. We

4
Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism (USA: New American Library,
1964).
5
Stephanie Pappas, “Are Humans Inherently Selfish?” in HuffPost,
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/are-humans-inherently-selfish_us_58b4544ee4b0780bac2bccf0.
Accessed: December 18, 2017.

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ought to change the perspective of the society on selfishness. We are all selfish for we all

want to achieve happiness. According to Aristotle, happiness depends on ourselves.

Happiness can be achieved when we follow our own desire. Therefore, we all need

selfishness in our lives.

The Principles of Rational Egoism

Ayn Rand is the woman who promoted selfishness as a virtue. She endorsed a

morality of self-interest. What she is advocating is unacceptable since people viewed

selfishness as an unrequired human behavior. They did not know how selfishness

became a virtue as she states. She discussed a theory that she called rational egoism in

which she meant rational self-interest.

Rational self-interest is what enables you to achieve real happiness and prosperity.

Rationality implies that you relate to the world the way it really is, not allowing

wishful thinking and fantasy to control your choices. Therefore, rational egoism

consists of actions and ideas about the best way for you to have a good life, based on

facts and things that are observable. 6

The principle of this egoism is it pulls the trigger of the gun of one’s own

happiness, not the gun of negativity as everyone unfortunately thinks. Rational egoism

claims that the promotion of one’s own interests is always in accordance with reason. 7

6
See “What is Rational egoism?” in Liberalistene, https://www.liberalistene.org/knowledge/what-
is-rational-egoism/. Accessed: December 20, 2017.
7
See “Egoism” in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/egoism/#SH2a.
Accessed: December 20, 2017.

9
We are self-centered for a reason. We all want to pursue a happy life. We all want to

achieve contentment and happiness and that is a primary reason why we are concerned

with our own interest. We believe that each and every one is selfish in a rational

manner. The society views this as a negative trait. It’s quite ironic how we don’t like

this trait but we all have this. The fact that this trait holds a disgusting meaning in

society, selfishness holds a pleasant interpretation behind its facade. Not only it helps

to love one’s self, but It can also be a key to sheer greatness and success.

Success in which the “me-first” thinking is very fitting when it comes to

achieving one’s goals in life and it often gives the uplift to achievement since this will

help you focus on what you need to do.

Every single detail from self-care to success, selfishness holds these amazing

traits that most of the people in the society are blind of. Once seen behind the wall,

this will unveil a whole new meaning of selfishness as a good trait of a human being.

And then a whole new world will open for those who will be awakened by this inert

human behavior leading them to a better way of living life itself.

Rand’s Philosophy of Selfishness

Ayn Rand chose to write and make a book about selfishness being a virtue for

the reason she wanted to overcome all the centuries of demonization.

The philosopher Ayn Rand once said:

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 This concept does not include a moral evaluation; it does
not tell us whether concern with one’s own interests is good
or evil; nor does it tell us what constitutes man’s actual
interests. It is the task of ethics to answer such questions. 8

She advocated a whole new level and concept of selfishness, which is different

from every other people’s perspective, thinking, and opinion. This research will tackle

more about the efficient and adequate explanation on how selfishness is really an inert

human behavior and its inertness is somehow rational and not immoral.

This paper then will extract more of Ayn Rand’s philosophy on the real virtue of

selfishness. This will answer the foremost problem, “Is selfishness really an inert human

behavior?” And the awaited answers will be discovered in the succeeding chapters.

8
Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism (USA: New American Library,
1964).

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 CHAPTER TWO
THE INTRINSIC AIM OF SELFISHNESS

The paramount intention of this chapter is to give an overview and provide a

variety of information regarding selfishness in linkage to the previous chapter, this part of

the paper will be consisting of the disparate works and articles from multifarious people

such as Erik Erikson, a psychologist and a psychoanalyst, Melissa Deuter, a professor of

psychiatry, and more that will fortify our paramount objective. This chapter will then

answer the questions, “Can selfishness do any good to humans?” and “Why is selfishness

an inert human behavior?” subsequently. This research will soon show an optimistic side

of the term selfish.

Selfishness: The Path to Self-Identity

To illuminate the sources, we have accumulated from different credible authors

whom have written about selfishness, it was then extrapolated that selfishness is rather an

inert behavior and an unnoticed virtue of mankind. Through these philosophers’ intellect

and belief, the support for the discussion will soon be satisfied and strengthened more.

The word selfishness is the embodiment of evil in famous usage. The idea it

depicts is of an atrocious creature who inconsiderately stomps over heaps of dead bodies

12
to get to his own ends and heeds for no living being but himself. Yet the exact meaning

and dictionary definition of the word selfishness is: concern with one’s own interests. 9

Being concerned with one’s own interests is knowing who you are. Being selfish

leads one to distinguishing his/her own self-identity. And self-identity gives you a sense

of individuality. 10

In a paper written by an executive director from University of the Philippines

Baguio, Cecilia Fe L Sta. Maria-Abalos, she mentioned the culture’s perception on

selfishness. “In my culture, selfishness is condemned, especially in women… the absence

of selfishness is considered a virtue.” The society does not see selfishness in a positive

manner. They want us to become the opposite of it which is to become selfless. This

simply shows that we do not open our eyes and minds when we see or hear the word

selfishness. It is as if we are taking a path where selfishness is a crime. If we continue to

not practice the act of being selfish then we might have some issues on discovering our

self-identity. We need to take the other path where in selfishness is practiced. In this path,

we see our destination, self-identity. Therefore, selfishness is essential to self-identity.

Shaun Nichols and Michael Bruno stated in their article, Intuitions about personal

identity: An empirical study, that personal identity should be based on one’s ability to

understand without concrete proof, in short, intuition. So, to know one’s personal

identity, it will all depend on your ability to understand the characteristics that makes you

9
See “Selfishness” in Ayn Rand Lexicon, http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/selfishness.html.
Accessed: January 23, 2018.
10
Maricel Ilag-Ramos, Moving Up: A Guide to Personal and Career Development (Philippines:
The Phoenix Publishing House Inc., 2016), 18.

13
you which are the given values, qualities, and many more that will show the way to know

your identity. 11

Erik Erikson, a German-born American developmental psychologist and

psychoanalyst, correspondingly had a stand on self-identity. Specifically, on how self-

identity makes you discover who you are. And to discover who you are is to give sincere

effort and true interest to one’s self characteristics. Self-discovery is the keystone to

personal development. Identity achievement is not simply a lethargic exertion that is

easily given to you. It is somewhat an abstract that one willingly works on. It is essential

that you continuously reflect to think about yourself —what you like, or what you want,

your interests, what you can do, what you need to develop. 12

Successfully achieving self-interest guides you to a pellucid comprehension of

your identity and individuality. And whilst one ascertains self-identity, he/she learns to

exhibit more forbearance for what he/she sees in others.

As Erikson have stated, “The more you know yourself, the more patience you

have for what you see in others.” 13

Selfishness: The Stairway to Responsibility

11
Shaun Nichols & Michael Bruno, “Intuitions about personal identity: An empirical study” in
Taylor & Francis Online, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09515089.2010.490939.
Accessed: January 23, 2018.
12
Ilag-Ramos, Moving Up: A Guide to Personal and Career Development (Philippines: The
Phoenix Publishing House Inc., 2016), 19.
13
Ibid., 7.

14
 Based on the previous paragraphs, it stated that you need to be selfish in order to

attain one’s self-identity and individuality. Knowing one’s self-identity will lead to

recognizing one’s responsibility to himself/herself. This idea was strengthened and

verified by the following scholars and professors.

Melissa Deuter, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Health

Science Center at San Antonio, defined selfishness as a good trait that humans possessed

for it has linkage with our responsibility with one's self. She elucidated that selfishness

has two connotations. One connotation is that you are unkind and inconsiderate of others.

The other is that you take responsibility for getting your personal, emotional and physical

needs met, and that is an important part of becoming an adult. 14 Every one of us have our

own needs and desires in life. And it is our duty to ensure that we can provide it to

ourselves. She stated that putting yourself first is not a negative quality; it is your job to

take care of yourself and get what you need. 15 And being responsible with one’s self first

can lead to making your self and life better.

Bob Rosen, Ph.D. and an author, justified the same view with Deuter. He said that

when you take care of yourself first, you show up as a healthy, grounded person in life. 16

According to him, it is in humans’ nature to assure one’s own needs. People need to

14
Stephanie Vozza, “4 Reasons Why Being Selfish Is Good for You” in Fast Company,
https://www.fastcompany.com/3032673/4-reasons-why-being-selfish-is-good-for-you. Accessed: January
14, 2018.
15
Ibid.
16
Bob Rosen, Grounded: How Leaders Stay Rooted in an Uncertain World (U.S.A.: Jossey-Bass,
2013).

15
prioritize theirs first before prioritizing others. If you cannot take care of yourself,

then you cannot care for others. Being selfish is critical. 17

Being selfish is said to be being responsible with one’s self. Steven Seay, a

licensed psychologist, concurs with it. Mental health requires that you work on meeting

your own personal needs, in addition to meeting any other responsibilities you might

have. 18 Like the viewpoint of Deuter and Rosen, he regarded selfishness as essential

ingredient, not only to human’s health but also to attain happiness and success.

Srishti Shukla’s outlook coincides with their standpoint. She explicated that

selfishness has positive aspect too that we need to recognize. 19 Selfishness can be

positive for it has linkage with responsibility. It is not always and only associated with

evil and depravity. For her, we need to allow selfishness in order for humans and our

world to become better and enriched.

Selfishness: The Bridge to Eudaimonia 20

17
Vozza, “4 Reasons Why Being Selfish Is Good for You” in Fast Company,
https://www.fastcompany.com/3032673/4-reasons-why-being-selfish-is-good-for-you. Accessed: January
14, 2018.
18
Steven J. Seay, “The Power of Being Selfish: Selfishness as a Key to Mental Health” in Center
for Psychological & Behavioral Science, http://www.psychologyandbehavior.com/selfish-selfishness-
mental-health/. Accessed: January 14, 2018.
19
Srishti Shukla, “Being Positively Selfish: Selfishness as a Responsibility” in Linked In,
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/being-positively-selfish-selfishness-responsibility-srishti-shukla.
Accessed: January 14, 2018.
20
Eudaimonia is a term used by Aristotle in his discussion in Nicomachean Ethics which means
'doing and living well' and also refers to as happiness.

16
 The novel “What is To Be Done?” by a philosopher Nikolai Chernyshevsky

shows egoism. The characters were able to achieve happiness by pursuing their own

interests. A character named Vera Pavlovna experienced oppression from her mother.

She was asked by her mother to marry a rich man but then she did not want that. She then

married a man named Lopukhóv who saved her from the oppression. Vera opened a

sewing union. Unexpectedly, she fell in love with Lopukhóv’s friend named Kirsanov.

When he found out about what was happening, he decided to make way for Vera and

Kirsanov’s love by faking his death which is suicide. Vera and Kirsanov got married.

They were happy with their marriage. Vera decided to study medicine and to become a

doctor. Lopukhóv reappeared with a different persona, Charles Beaumont. He got

married to a lady named Katerína. The couples lived happily in adjoining apartments.

Selfishness is evident in all the characters especially with Vera Pavlovna. She was

able to achieve happiness for she was selfish. As stated on The Elements of Moral

Philosophy 4th Edition: “The achievement of his own happiness is a man’s highest moral

purpose.” 21 We all want to become happy. This is what we all aim for. The reason as to

why we do what we do is to reach happiness. Vera became happily married for she

pursued her own self-interest. She even opened a sewing union. With that, it can be a big

help to the society. The individual is most likely to contribute to social betterment by

rationally pursuing his own best long-range interests. 22 As what we have stated in the

previous sub-topic, we need to allow selfishness in order for humans and our world to

become better and enriched. If she did not become selfish and just followed her mother

21
James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy (U.S.A.: McGraw Hills, 2003), 76.
22
Ibid., 79.

17
then she would not probably be happy. “If a man accepts the ethics of altruism” she

writes, “his first concern is not how to live his life but to sacrifice it.” 23 Altruism is

unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others. She lived her life. She minded

her own business. She was able to reach a man’s highest moral purpose.

Eudaimonia was developed by many known philosophers like Plato,

Aristotle, and the Stoics. Eudaimonia is often referred to as happiness but it is more than

the mere fact of being happy, instead it is more relatable to as being a virtue, which is a

component for having a flourished life. Based on Nicomachean Ethics written by

Aristotle, happiness is the highest good because we choose happiness as an end sufficient

in itself. 24 “Eudaimonism holds that what a person should do always coincides with

his/her own interest.” 25 This shows that in eudaimonia, there is egoism. You pursue what

fulfills your happiness which is basically your own self-interest. Eudaimonism and

egoism is a combo. When you pursue being selfish, you achieve happiness. This is the

reason why people should take action but it is the virtuousness of an action that makes it

part of a eudaimonia and thus, good for an individual.

That being said about eudaimonia, everything stated here is also connected to

Hedonism, which is a philosophy that maximizes pleasure and will result into happiness

eventually. 26 Maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain is the idea of this philosophy

23
Ibid., 88.
24
SparkNotes Editors, “SparkNote on Nicomachean Ethics” in SparkNotes,
http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/ethics/. Accessed: February 10, 2018.
25
Allan Gotthelf & Gregory Salmieri, A Companion to Ayn Rand (United Kingdom: John Wiley
& Sons, 2016).
26
See “Hedonism” in The Basics of Philosophy,
http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_hedonism.html. Accessed: February 10, 2018.

18
since pain is evil for hedonism. This will result into a better outcome of happiness when

one goes selfish to pursue pleasure while avoiding pain.

That being said about eudaimonia, everything stated here is also connected to

Hedonism, Hedonism is a philosophy that maximizes pleasure it will then result into

happiness eventually27. It is maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain since pain is evil

for hedonism. This will result into a better outcome of happiness when one goes selfish to

pursue pleasure while avoiding pain.

The Copacetic Product of the Matter

This chapter has contributed a variety of information regarding selfishness as a

pleasant characteristic and an innate human behavior, eliminating the inferior notion

concerning selfishness. That all being said, the researchers will unveil their foremost

philosopher’s firmest support on rational egoism and will answer the research question

“Is selfishness really an inert human behavior?” on the third chapter of the paper.

19
 CHAPTER THREE
THE OBJECTIVIST PANORAMA ON SELFISHNESS

As stated in the title, this chapter will show the view or panorama of our primary

philosopher Ayn Rand, on selfishness depicting as a virtue in a world where people

aggrandizes its wrong and negative notion from humans to the other humans.

Ayn Rand is an Objectivist who believes in rational egoism and rejects altruism

which is the view that self-sacrifice is the moral ideal. The simple fact that the idea of

being selfish is bad and rejected in society. Ayn Rand believes that being selfish is a

virtue that is needed to pursue our happiness in life in connection with eudaimonia or

happiness as stated in the antecedent chapter.

This chapter will also show and use the philosophy of Ayn Rand throughout the

whole methodology by putting rational egoism to inform readers more about selfishness

being needed to have a better way of living and better perception on this innate human

trait. With the application of Rand’s philosophy, we can derive various concepts that

would fortify our extrapolated claims of selfishness being an inert human behavior and

that selfishness is not something to reject but something that we should have and need.

By the end of this chapter, the anticipated answer to our fourth research question “Is

selfishness really an inert human behavior?” will be pellucid and factual.

Selfishness as Rational Egoism

20
 Rand went around people, urging them to be selfish through multifarious sorts of

volumes. For the reason that she firmly believes that it is of interest to one’s self and not

something pessimistic which conjures an image of murdering people in return for only

their own good and desires. She elucidated that selfishness is not an attribute wherein one

exploits people to get ahead and just minding his/her own self. Rather, she claims that

mindlessly victimizing others is not in your self-interest. 28

She was the one who founded Objectivism which is the philosophy of rational

individualism.29 It begins by embracing the basic fact that existence exists. Reality is, and

in the quest to live we must discover reality’s nature and learn to act successfully in it. It

is the philosophy for living on earth. 30 It is the philosophical system that advocates

selfishness which is the dominant point of the book The Fountainhead. It is one of the

disparate works of Rand that won the interest and acclaim of the world in an instant

because of its contradicting concept from altruism.

The book is fictional which Rand used as an instrument to promote her

philosophy. It centers a man named Howard Roark, an intransigent and young architect,

as she puts it, “struggles for the integrity of his creative work against every form of social

28
See “Introduction to Objectivism” in The Ayn Rand Institute,
https://www.aynrand.org/ideas/overview. Accessed: January 14, 2018.

29
William Thomas, “What is Objectivism?” in The Atlas Society,
https://atlassociety.org/objectivism/atlas-university/what-is-objectivism/objectivism-101-blog/3366-what-
is-objectivism. Accessed: March 7, 2018.

30
See “Introduction to Objectivism” in The Ayn Rand Institute,
https://www.aynrand.org/ideas/overview. Accessed: January 14, 2018.

21
opposition.” 31 He portrayed a man who defends himself at a courtroom talking about the

value of selfishness and the need to stay true to oneself. That one quality that readers of

The Fountainhead have strikingly found within Roark’s character is his sheer

independence. His will to pursue anything without asking anyone’s help.

To beef up the notion of the promotion of individualism of this book, Ayn Rand

wrote a line which became famous for its compelling thought: “To say ‘I love you’ one

must know first how to say the ‘I.’” 32 The ‘I’ is a pronoun that describes one and one’s

self only. The truth is, romantic love is profoundly selfish: it is a union of mind and body

that both people pursue for their own happiness. And it is profoundly demanding. 33

Although The Fountainhead was a major literary success, it was not enough to

support the point of her philosophy. Therefore, she created a novel that might as well

conquer the minds and agitate the strong opinions of humanity regarding her philosophy,

Objectivism, one more time. The book was named The Anthem, published in 1946, which

depicts the effect of prohibiting collectivism and recognizing individualism as obscure

and a remnant from the unmentionable times as said in the novel. 34 Related to the 1943

book The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand created a character named Equality 7-2521 to be the

31
David Kotter, “CHECK YOUR PREMISES: AYN RAND THROUGH A BIBLICAL LENS” in
Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, https://tifwe.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/David-Kotter-Ayn-
Rand-Research-Article3.pdf. Accessed March 7, 2018.
32
See “Introduction to Objectivism” in The Ayn Rand Institute,
https://www.aynrand.org/ideas/overview. Accessed: January 14, 2018.

33
Ibid.

34
Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead (U.S.A.: Bobbs Meril Company, 1943).

22
man to terminate collectivism from a future world obtaining only we and our as a

description for themselves and to rediscover the Unspeakable Word I from conducting a

scientific research to create electric light. Not only did Ayn Rand emphasized selfishness

as an inert human behavior in the novel, but he also reiterated the thought of the virtue of

selfishness by unveiling the process of how individualism can lead to the greater good of

the society which the technological improvements in the book represent. 35

To wrap up the linkage of these works with rational egoism, the two novels in

which our main philosopher featured individualism as the central idea, corroborates the

positive outcomes of selfishness which neglects the generality of selfishness as a negative

attribute of humans and very likely opposes the notion of altruism.

Thus, selfishness being rational egoism, expounded by Ayn Rand, is what enables

mankind to achieve real happiness and prosperity. 36 Rationality implies that one relates to

the world the way it really is without allowing wishful thinking and fantasy to control

one’s choices. It claims that the promotion of one’s own interests is always in accordance

with reason. 37

The Legitimacy of Selfishness

35
See “Anthem” in CliffsNotes, https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/anthem/book-summary.
Accessed: March 7, 2018.

36
See Chapter One of this paper with the section of “The Principles of Rational Egoism”.

37
See “Egoism” in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/egoism/#SH2a.
Accessed: December 20, 2017.

23
 Selfishness is everywhere. Each of us presumably has committed a selfish act in

this world. It is part of everyone's daily life. This human attribute is very evident. When

making a decision, dealing with problems, or even on simple things like choosing what to

eat, some of us did not know that selfishness is present. Some people just refuse to accept

its existence in their actions for they are thinking the irrationality of it first. But what if it

is the other way around? What if we look at it in a rational sense first?

Imagine one with a sibling eating in a dining area. There are three pieces of fried

chickens on the table. One took two while he/she only gave one to his/her brother/sister.

One has taken more than what he/she need. It is being selfish. And if we will view this

with Ayn Rand's philosophy, what he/she did is not wrong. It is rational because one

focused on his/her well-being. Taking two fried chickens satisfies one’s body. One

pursued self- interest that led to his/her happiness. What he/she did is a virtue for it is an

action that secures and protects one's rational and moral values which is one's life and

happiness. Indeed selfishness is a virtue that humans possess. Another situation is when a

man passed by a beggar who asks for money or food. The man has cash on his pocket but

just decided to just walk past by the beggar. It is an act of selfishness, rational selfishness

because like the first situation, the man gave regards on his welfare first before anyone

else. And by not giving his money to the beggar, he can buy something for himself which

satisfy his own interest. But for altruism, what one did is immoral. The basic principle of

altruism is that human has no right to exist for his/her own sake, that service to others is

the only justification of his/her existence, and that self-sacrifice is his/her highest moral

24
duty, virtue and value. 38 One basically live for others and not for oneself. He/she spend

his/her life for the sake of others. One cannot give regards to one‘s self because the

regards of others is what one must pursue. One cannot pursue what he/she wants because

one’s main focus is pursuing what other’s want. This is irrational because he/she always

get to serve others but never for himself/herself. For Rand, the highest moral value of a

person is his/her well-being. Well-being refers to the state of being happy, healthy, or

prosperous. For us to achieve that, we need to focus on ourselves. We need to serve

ourselves first before serving anyone else. One’s own well-being depends on no one else

but on his/her self only. Well being cannot be achieved by always putting up others

before oneself. In selfishness, one respect himself/herself. One respect what one want and

what one aim for.

The Propagation of Rational Egoism

Selfishness is a natural phenomenon in human beings. It is already innate in every

individual. Selfishness is inevitable. Ayn Rand emphasized that a person needs to be

selfish in order to achieve true happiness and prosperity. Selfishness is not about its

negative connotation but rather an encouragement that it is a best interest to each oneself.

It is about how an individual can be independent despite the fact that there is no one

beside himself/herself that can help him. It is about choosing oneself as well as pursuing

or gaining something with your own self only. Selfishness being rational egoism enables

38
Ayn Rand, Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World (U.S.A.: Second Renaissance
Pr, 1993).

25
human to be independent and attain success with the help of own oneself. Rational

egoism tells us to be concerned of ourselves first before anyone or anything else. We can

only achieve this by pursuing what we want and by putting up ourselves first. Rational

egoism is being selfish in accordance with a realistic reason. The highest moral value of a

person is his/her well being as said by Ayn Rand. 39 We become selfish to achieve this.

“True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice.” 40 It is stated that love is required

to sacrifice. It is as if love is equated to sacrifice. To say ‘I love you’ one must first know

how to say the ‘I’. 41 This was also stated on the first section of this chapter. To expound

on this, one must know his/her own self first. One must know first his/her own value.

One must know how to love his/her self first before anyone else. I is not simply said first

for nothing. How will one love if he/she does not even have that for his/her self? It would

not be possible for anyone to sacrifice anything that he/she does not even possess in the

first place. Everything one must give must come from his/her self. One must prioritize

his/her self first. How will one say “I love you” if he/she cannot even say the pronoun I? I

is a pronoun which shows independence. It can stand alone. I is the beginning which

shows that oneself first before anyone else. If one do not have love for yourself, how will

one love others? One must begin his/her self at all times. The value of love cannot be

given to anyone if one cannot give it to his/her self first.

39
Allan Gotthelf & Gregory Salmieri, A Companion to Ayn Rand (U.S.A: Wiley-Blackwell,
2016).

40
A quotation from Sadhu T.L. Vaswani who is an Indian educator.
41
Rand, The Fountainhead (U.S.A.: Bobbs Meril Company, 1943).

26
 After all the discussions in the previous chapters up to this chapter, we ought to

spread this enlightenment to the society. Selfishness is essential for us to continue living.

It could lead to the betterment of each and everyone. Let selfishness become more

evident. Let it propagate. May this be the start of something new, a new perspective.

27
 CHAPTER FOUR
THE ILLATION ON SELFISHNESS

From the very beginning of our research, selfishness was described as an inert

human behavior and a virtue which sums up the idea that almost everything stated in our

paper revolves around the questions “Is selfishness really an inert human behavior?” and

the question that most of the time appears in to the reader's mind is “Is selfishness a

negative attribute or a virtue?”

This paper gave an overview primarily to answer the question “Is selfishness reall

y an inert human behavior?” Throughout the three previous chapters, selfishness was

described as a negative attribute by the masses but opposingly, by Rand, it is a virtue.

Thus, being an inert human behavior, selfishness was already there. From the very

beginning, on our birth we were already being selfish and that is not bad but rather, a

virtue.

On account of the antecedent chapters of the paper, selfishness was defined and

characterized thoroughly, with it being an inert human behavior and as a virtue. On the

first chapter of this paper, the different view and outlooks on selfishness were described

in which answered the question “What is selfishness?”. The term selfishness is delineated

as the act of concerning on one’s own interest with disregard of others, but our society

recognized it as an evil act. This negative vision started from the past generations. People

were taught to be selfless for it is the right thing to do. In this part, researchers also stated

that selfishness is neither immoral nor irrational. It is actually a part of the full package of

28
being human in which it is also a virtue that humans unknowingly possessed. Ayn Rand

was mentioned on this chapter, only because she was the foremost philosopher whom

expounded and fortified the claim of the paper. She particularly endorsed the morality of

self-interest. This theory is called rational egoism or rational self-interest which enables

human to attain happiness and not the other way around.

In linkage to it is the second chapter which revolves around the multifarious

studies of disparate and credible people in order to fully understand, and somehow get us

closer in answering on of the research questions, “Can selfishness do good to any

humans?” and “Is selfishness truly an inert human behavior?”. We found some

philosophers who connected or found a pathway coming from selfishness to different

virtues, and something positive to humans. One is selfishness as a path to knowing one's

self identity, selfishness as a bridge to Eudaimonia, and selfishness as a stairway to

responsibility, throughout this chapter we have truly discovered that selfishness leads to

one's own benefit depending on when, how, and why you became selfish. We have also

learned that selfishness does not mean evil, hence, just the absence of it makes it a virtue.

We have also learned that, selfishness is an inert human behavior because it simply is an i

nstinct of all humans, no exceptions, to be selfish when the need has come.

“The Objectivist Panorama on Selfishness” became the title for the third chapter

for it was the segment which will downright amplified the philosophy of our

philosopher, specifically an objectivist, Ayn Rand and strengthen the said claims. It

started with just elucidating the concept of selfishness being rational egoism that is Ayn

Rand’s philosophy, in which rationality implies that you relate to the world the way it

29
really is, not allowing wishful thinking and fantasy to control your choices. It claims that

the promotion of one’s own interests is always in accordance with reason. 42 And how it is

applied in real life was also explained which may conjure an image that selfishness is

truly a virtue and an inert human behavior. Last but not the least, selfishness was

separated into limbs for the readers to be able to comprehend what the claim is and

hopefully promote the notion of it as a good trait and as an innate trait.

Selfishness is defined as the act of concerning on one’s own interest. It stated that

one needs to be selfish in order to achieve his/her own desire. We say that prioritizing

his/her self first is not immoral. It is helping oneself to develop in order to help others.

Our primary philosopher, Ayn Rand, emphasized that a person needs to be selfish in

order to achieve his/her own happiness and prosperity. Selfishness being rational egoism

enables human to be independent and attain success with the help of own oneself.

“Is selfishness really an inert human behavior?” This is the question we ought to

answer for this paper. Indeed, selfishness is really an inert human behavior. The reason

on why we say selfishness naturally exists among us is because we all have our own

self-interest which we all want to pursue. What we want to pursue enables us to be happy.

It is essential for our lives.

For the future researchers, we recommend our paper as a source of information

and a new perspective regarding selfishness. This paper might be helpful in creating

another philosophical study in line with our study. However, we only used a single view

on egoism to answer our research problems which is rational egoism. There are other

kinds/views on egoism such as psychological egoism and moral egoism which can also

be used to provide an answer to our research problem. We did not claim that rational
42
See Chapter 3 of the paper.

30
egoism is the only one who can prove that selfishness is an inert human behavior rather,

we used it as a very facilitative method which thoroughly demystifies the virtue and

innateness of selfishness.

31
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