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Help me validate egoism

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dadmonson

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Can you help me validate egoism?

Egoism means that you should benefit from your actions. The following is my understanding of the validation of egoism:

What gives rise to values in your own life is the fact that you are faced with an alternative....your own life or your own death. Therefore your own self preservation can be your only ultimate goal since your own death requires you to do nothing. In order for you to preserve your own life you must achieve values that will help you self preserve via your own action....action that you must be the beneficiary of but here is where I get confused...can't you also achieve your own self preservation through being the beneficiary of actions from other people? What am I missing?

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Huh? I could kill myself quicker by shooting myself with a gun, rather than doing nothing.

 

thenelli01, he is making a valid point raised many times in O'ist literature. 

 

To obtain value you need to act, whereas to obtain complete disvalue (death) you need not act at all, refrain from eating, drinking, breathing.

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Can you help me validate egoism?

Egoism means that you should benefit from your actions. The following is my understanding of the validation of egoism:

What gives rise to values in your own life is the fact that you are faced with an alternative....your own life or your own death. Therefore your own self preservation can be your only ultimate goal since your own death requires you to do nothing. In order for you to preserve your own life you must achieve values that will help you self preserve via your own action....action that you must be the beneficiary of but here is where I get confused...can't you also achieve your own self preservation through being the beneficiary of actions from other people? What am I missing?

 

"being" as in "being the beneficiary" of other's action, is not itself an action on your part.  It is inaction, coupled with dependence upon the action of others.  Dependence leaves you open to the same risks of disvalue as any other kind of inaction if and when the actions of others cease to be to your benefit.

 

Also, your ability to sustain yourself through action is a skill which can atrophy if you get in the habit of dependence and inaction.  Such atrophy puts you at risk because if and when your benefactors become your detractors, you will be ill equipped to fend for yourself.  Its much better in the long run to always act for your own benefit, to be as independent and self reliant as you can. 

 

Do not confuse self-reliance with a tendency to avoid society, social interaction, or trade of value for value.  Specialization can be the BEST way you can become self-reliant: you make more money being a surgeon, you are not "dependent" upon your plumber, you pay him: and it costs you the equivalent of 10 minutes of your time at work for his 2 hours while saving you 5 hours of fumbling around and botching up the pipes.

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"being" as in "being the beneficiary" of other's action, is not itself an action on your part.  It is inaction, coupled with dependence upon the action of others.  Dependence leaves you open to the same risks of disvalue as any other kind of inaction if and when the actions of others cease to be to your benefit.

 

Also, your ability to sustain yourself through action is a skill which can atrophy if you get in the habit of dependence and inaction.  Such atrophy puts you at risk because if and when your benefactors become your detractors, you will be ill equipped to fend for yourself.  Its much better in the long run to always act for your own benefit, to be as independent and self reliant as you can. 

 

Do not confuse self-reliance with a tendency to avoid society, social interaction, or trade of value for value.  Specialization can be the BEST way you can become self-reliant: you make more money being a surgeon, you are not "dependent" upon your plumber, you pay him: and it costs you the equivalent of 10 minutes of your time at work for his 2 hours while saving you 5 hours of fumbling around and botching up the pipes.

Thank you that was clarifying

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What gives rise to values in your own life is the fact that you are faced with an alternative....your own life or your own death.

In addition to what SL has already pointed out, survival itself is not the inherent goal.  There are many people alive today who survive perfectly well but do not appreciate it (many of them live only because of their fear of death), and this demonstrates what I consider to be the most important thing about egoism: your survival is only as important as how much you enjoy it.

 

Your love of your own life is the standard of value.  And your love of life automatically requires that you survive, because corpses simply aren't capable of joy, but to live for your love of life requires so much more than mere survival.

 

So which conditions are necessary for you to truly enjoy your brief lifespan?

 

That question can only be answered by one person, through some rigorous introspection.  Howard Roark (if you've read the fountainhead) loved to create buildings in the same way that Rearden loved to create metal and Ayn Rand loved to create novels.  No two individuals will enjoy the same things in the same way.  However, to understand the requirements of your own love of life and then act to maximize it, regardless of those particular requirements, is the ultimate goal.

 

Don't just survive; live!  :thumbsup:

Edited by Harrison Danneskjold
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