Virtues as Absolutes

Ethics
1

I am in the process of writing a sort of personal statement, and I got to thinking. In her paper The Objectivist Ethics, Ayn Rand says

Value is that which one acts to gain and/or keep—virtue is the act by which one gains and/or keeps it.

If I am struck with a decision to make, regardless of circumstances or the nature of the decision, acting rationally is moral, end of story. That makes sense. She also mentions productiveness:

The virtue of Productiveness is the recognition of the fact that productive work is the process by which man’s mind sustains his life, the process that sets man free of the necessity to adjust himself to his background, as all animals do, and gives him the power to adjust his background to himself.

First, I’m a little thrown off by her wording. Recognizing a property of human existence is a virtue? Or is it acting on that recognition (going by her definition of virtue)?

Also, she puts “productiveness” in broad terms, basically describing it as “doing stuff to sustain ones life.” What gets me is that I’d like to think of virtues as principles that help you make decisions, e.g., be honest, be rational. But “be productive” just doesn’t seem have the same quality to it… at least not intuitively. If I’m struck with a difficult decision, is there ever a case where it might be moral to be counter-productive, e.g., say your boss wants you to do immoral work? When is “productiveness” relevant? I think that the way she describes it, it makes sense. You can ask yourself the question, “if I do this, will it help sustain my life?” If anyone wants to shed some more light on the topic, you have my encouragement.

2

Productivity (like Pride), is a complex, long-term virtue. It means dedicating your entire life to purposeful, goal-oriented action. It does help you make decisions, but they aren’t instantaneous decisions like “should I lie?” In fact, being productive can sometimes mandate that you take a break and get some rest because overworking yourself is bad for your long-term productivity. It can mean spending several years getting an education instead of getting a job right away.

Understanding the long-term is a very important part of the Objectivist ethics.

3

You are a material being with physical requirements for continued existence. This is every bit as important to keep in mind at all times as rationality or honesty. Rationality is an aspect of the identity of human nature, and so is productivity. Both are equally important. Rationality comes first because it is the means to achieve productivity.