In defense of selfishness : why the code of self-sacrifice is unjust and destructive / Peter Schwartz.

"There is one central, non-controversial idea we're taught about morality--that self-sacrifice is a virtue. What if it's wrong? From childhood, we are told that serving the needs of others, rather than our own, is the essence of morality and the way to achieve social harmony. To be ethical--it is believed--is to be altruistic. Here, Peter Schwartz questions this notion. In Defense of Selfishness shows that what altruism demands is not that you respect the rights of your neighbor and refrain from acting like Attila the Hun, but rather that you subordinate yourself to others. Altruism entails not benevolence and cooperation, but servitude. Schwartz asks why the fact that someone needs your money makes him entitled to it, while the fact that you've earned it, doesn't. Schwartz rejects sacrifice, under which one person's gain comes at the price of another's loss. Instead, he proposes an alternative to altruism, whereby people deal with one another not by sacrificing but by offering value for value, to mutual benefit, and by refusing to seek the unearned. Schwartz proposes a world, based on Ayn Rand's ethics of rational self-interest, under which individuals live honest, self-respecting, productive lives. Using real-life examples, In Defense of Selfishness illustrates the iniquity of requiring one man to serve the needs of another, challenging readers to question the standard by which they decide that something is morally right or wrong"-- Provided by publisher.

Machine generated contents note: -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. The Shackles -- Altruism as Servitude -- The Perverse Meaning of "Need" -- The Omnipresence of Altruism -- 2. The Straw Man -- Selfishness Misdefined -- Rational Selfishness -- The Selfishness of Love -- 3. Moral Principles--and Their Enemy -- The Selfish Need for Principles -- The Moral Is the Practical -- Altruism and the Absolutism of Your Neighbor's Wishes -- Rational Egoism Precludes Conflicts of Interest -- 4. The Myth of the "Public Interest" -- Who Qualifies as the "Public"? -- "Public Interest": Making People Pay for What They Don't Want -- Individualism vs Collectivism -- The "Public Interest" Is Not What Interests the Public -- The Collectivist Mentality -- 5. Altruism vs Rights -- Freedom Is Negated by a Duty to Sacrifice -- The Meaning of Rights -- The Political System that Repudiates Servitude -- The "Equality" Fraud -- 6. The Collectivist Straitjacket -- To Be Taken Care of Is to Be Controlled -- Regulations Victimize Both Producers and Consumers -- The Selfish Motive to Make Safe Products -- Self-interest Makes Objective Thinking Possible -- Sacrificing the Rational to the Irrational -- Altruism and the All-Powerful State -- 7. The Black Hole of Selflessness -- Human Cognition: A Supremely Selfish Act -- The Zombie Order-Followers -- 8. The Goal of Self-sacrifice -- The Altruistic Enviers -- A Code of Disvalues -- Anti-Life -- 9. Choosing Life -- The Need for Consistency -- Making the Choice.