The Selfishness Project

Some highlights and testimonials from The Selfishness Project. ( 2 min. )

In this 23-minute talk (with powerpoint slides), I present Ayn Rand’s new idea of selfishness. A 65-minute Q&A follows, in which the following questions are addressed:

Wasn’t Mother Teresa really selfish? (26:30). Is there a book you recommend for learning more about Ayn Rand’s ideas of selfishness? (34:43). Does the concept “selfishness” only apply in a social context? (36:20). How does selfishness translate to politics? (41:49). What should one do in a lifeboat scenario? (46:54). Is there a necessary way to happiness? (56:25). Should one accept government handouts? (1:01:22). What is the Objectivist concept of pride? (1:07:14). How does Ayn Rand’s selfish approach apply to family relations? (1:09:40). Is there a role for government other than protecting people from violence? (1:20:07). What do you think of John Rawls’ theory of justice? (1:23:57).

This talk was hosted on May 30, 2020 by the Singapore-based group The Philosophy of Life: https://www.facebook.com/philosophylife/.

( 1 hr 31 min. )

Is it selfless to return a lost wallet and selfish to keep (or ignore) it? “Paying it forward”—what does it mean and was I doing it by returning the wallet? Unintended consequences of good (or bad) actions. What makes an intention good? ( 30 min. )

The coronavirus, the internet, and the future of higher education: Prof. Molyneux’s experience during the outbreak; will professors be laid off?; effects on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) vs. non-STEM disciplines; what about philosophy? The University of California graduate student strike. Student loan debt and debt forgiveness.

(Starting at 0:46:46) The lockdowns: Do they sacrifice some people to others? Do they represent a collectivist rather than individualist approach? Should people at high risk of contracting and dying from the virus be free to risk getting it? Should people be able to waive their “right” to medical treatment? Triaging cases in an individualist way. Collective action problems (e.g., prisoner’s dilemmas) and rational self-interest. Is there an individualist argument for a lockdown—in this particular case? Reasonable risk and quality of life. Is the cure worse than the disease? Inflation. Current economic woes as a small-scale preview of what the Green New Deal would be like. Alex Epstein’s moral case for fossil fuels. Our “addiction” to fossil fuels. Nuclear energy and Chernobyl. ( 2 hrs 35 min. )

Recorded on April 11, 2020.

Greek egoism and secularism as a counterexample to the idea that humans are innately altruistic. ( 6 min. )

Altruism as a tool of exploitation in religion and history. ( 7 min. )

The relation of egoism and altruism, and their meanings. Preachers of altruism. Altruism as a tool of exploitation, in history and religion. Do preachers of altruism themselves believe in altruism? Is there an innate tendency to accept altruism? Greek culture as egoistic and relatively secular; Homer, Aristotle, and Plato. Are the Greek heroes altruistic? Achilles and Prometheus. Why do we get satisfaction from helping others (sometimes)? Why helping others can be self-interested. What is a sacrifice? McDonald’s example. Is it possible to intentionally give up more than one gets? Egoism and relying on experts. Mother Teresa, religion, and selfishness. Predestination, divine foreknowledge, and free will. Compatibilism. Morality as a tool to guide volitional beings live. The nature of happiness. Nozick’s experience machine and drugs. Is what happiness is socially determined? Are good and bad socially determined? Pleasure and pain as grounding, and giving meaning to, “good” and “bad.” Altruism as a package-deal. Contradictions in people’s thinking. Is it necessary to manipulate some people by their emotions? People with Down syndrome and women. Social influence on reasoning ability. Morality as a tool whose nature depends on morality’s goal. Instrumental and intrinsic goods. Rand’s view of life as the ultimate end. The relation of survival and happiness. Suicide. Motivation by fear of non-existence (a negative) vs. by love of existence (a positive). ( 3 hrs 21 min. )

Self-interest and global warming; prisoner’s dilemmas and game theory; free rider problems; volunteer armies and charities. ( 8 min. )

Universal basic income, government programs generally, and force. ( 3 min. )

The coronavirus outbreak: How Jesus or Mother Teresa would act vs. how most people do act. Are we obligated to do what is ideal? Should unrealistic ideals be ideals? Ought implies can. Giving lip service to selflessness as an ideal without really believing it: a tension in many people’s view. The moral and the practical. How to assess practicality. Is practicality a purely relative issue? Or is it objective? The meaning of “objective.” Is there an objective standard of the good? Of what’s worth pursuing? Ayn Rand’s view vs. intrinsicism and subjectivism. Are there intrinsic oughts? What one ought to do understood as what one has most reason to do. Is pleasure an intrinsic good? Is it ever good to avoid pleasure? The pleasure/experience machine. Would you do anything to get pleasure? Morality as relativized to something’s nature. Political implications of ethical views. The nature of a society as dependent on a notion of what is “normal.” What’s best for the world as a dependent on what’s best for individuals. Is pleasure valuable apart from life? Does my own pleasure matter the most? Does “what matters” depend on there being an agent to whom “what matters” matters? Can pleasure be a value apart from its being experienced? Selves and values across time, and how this relates to Galen Strawson’s, Buddhist, and Hindu views, and to valuing others. Is hunger in itself reason-giving? Experiencing pleasure while believing one doesn’t deserve it or that it isn’t valuable—is that coherent? ( 2 hrs 46 min. )