County Line Road - Eithical Theory of Ayn Rand

You're here:Home

Caucus

2008 Presentations

Eithical Theory of Ayn Rand

Written by Hal Hollis

Article Index
Eithical Theory of Ayn Rand
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13

Page 11 of 13

Pride:

"The virtue of Pride can best be described by the term: “moral ambitiousness.” It means that one must earn the right to hold oneself as one’s own highest value by achieving one’s own moral perfection— which one achieves by never accepting any code of irrational virtues impossible to practice and by never failing to practice the virtues one knows to be rational—by never accepting an unearned guilt and never earning any, or, if one has earned it, never leaving it uncorrected—by never resigning oneself passively to any flaws in one’s character—by never placing any concern, wish, fear or mood of the moment above the reality of one’s own selfesteem. And, above all, it means one’s rejection of the role of a sacrificial animal, the rejection of any doctrine that preaches selfimmolation as a moral virtue or duty."

From Galt's speech:

“Pride is the recognition of the fact that you are your own highest value and, like all of man's values, it has to be earned – that of any achievements open to you, the one that makes all others possible is the creation of your own character – that your character, your actions, your desires, your emotions are the products of the premises held by your mind – that as man must produce the physical values he needs to sustain his life, so he must acquire the values of character that make his life worth sustaining – that as man is being of selfmade wealth, so he is a being of selfmade soul – that to live requires a sense of
selfvalue, but man, who has no automatic values, has no automatic sense of selfesteem, and must earn it by shaping his soul in the image of the moral ideal, in the image of Man, the rational being he is born able to create, but must create by choice – that the first precondition of selfesteem is that radiant selfishness of soul which desires the best in all things, in values of matter and spirit, a soul that seeks above all else to achieve its own moral perfection, valuing nothing higher than itself.”

Why is it a virtue?

In essence, Rand's argument is that pride is necessary for selfesteem, and selfesteem is necessary for human life. “Man cannot preserve his body unless he preserves his soul”. Selfesteem encapsulates the twin convictions, “I am able to live and I am worthy of living”

<< Prev - Next >>