M HKA Ensembles

Book, 10,5 x 17,8 cm.

Collection: Collection MHKA, Antwerp.

The provocative title of this book embodies the core concept of Objectivist philosophy – the "ethics of rational self-interest". In this collection of articles, Rand argues for a new code of morality, based on rational concern with one’s own interests. According to Rand, morality is a matter of principle, a “code of black and white”, good or evil. Convinced in the perniciousness of any ambiguity, she sees, what she calls; “the cult of moral greyness” as the main symptom of moral decay. Evaluating egoism as the only reasonable ethics, she confronts it with the idea of self-sacrifice, or altruism, which she finds not only immoral, but absolutely incompatible with freedom, individual rights, and last but not least, capitalism. She also introduces “the trader principle”, an ideal form for any kind of voluntary human relationship based on a free exchange, beneficial for both parties.