Ayn Rand on Selfishness

We have a duty to be selfish and any other behaviour is irrational. These were the thoughts of Ayn Rand, Russian-American novelist of the 1950s. Rand’s approach, which she labelled ‘Objectivism’, starts from the claim that there is an objective reality out there and that human beings understand it through reason not emotion. There is no God. We survive by pursuing our own rational self-interest.

Narrated by Stephen Fry. Scripted by Nigel Warburton.

This project is from the BBC in partnership with The Open University, the animations were created by Cognitive

[shanetoumey]

It’s fascinating how much difference there is between what she said and what people tell you she said.

[vodkatonyq]

Rand never said it is immoral to ask help for others.

[MrJohnCJ]

Objectivism does not say it is immoral to ask for help from others.

[davee]

It's unbelievable how people twist everything she said to make her sound evil. I read her "Virtue of Selfishness" and "The Fountainhead" and I can't find values that are morally higher.

[waterstrike]

Practically every other line in this video is a misrepresentation of Ayn Rand's ideas. There's no way to get an actual discussion going if we're not talking about the same ideas.

[hermanessences]

This is false!! Rand never said that you shouldn't ask for help, or that the weak shouldn't expect any help from the strong.

[Delorian]

I can't believe Stephen Fry narrated this. Ayn Rand must be one of the most misrepresented intellectuals in history.

[brrradley]

I’m sad to say Stephen Fry just went down a notch in my book.

[davee]

The proper role of government (in Rand's view) has nothing to do with "letting the powerful flourish or protecting the rights of ownership" but protecting the individuals from brute force, which is the only way their rights can be taken away.

[RobSinclaire]

Of course one should read Miss Rand's works for themselves to understand/agree with them or, not

[greywinters]

The BBC of course. They insult the viewer.

[eldorado]

Rand didn't say it is a duty to be selfish. She didn't believe people are born with any duty.

[feddundas]

This 2 minute video has far less moral and epistemic insight than any 2 minutes of the movie Big Hero 6. Back to not wasting my life. Hopefully one day documentarians will value facts and good work. THAT world is worth fighting for.

[Monchi]

Líes. Listen or read "the virtue of selfishness (the essay not the book) for the real definición of altruism and selfishness

[Virtueman]

"We have a duty to be selfish and any other behaviour is irrational."

Nonono!! Totally wrong, totally upside down. THERE ARE NO DUTIES in Objectivism! It has a teleologically based ethical system, a value-based system. Study ethics.

The Objectivist normative ethics is based on the virtue of rationality, yes, but acting on duty, for no reason, is not rational in the slightest!

Asking for help from others IS ALLOWED under Objectivism if it advances your life. It does not advance one's life to live on the principle of always asking for help and never doing anything oneself however - that's what you have willfully misinterpreted here.

The idea that the weak should not expect help from the strong is a serious distortion also. According to Objectivism: just because charity should not take presedence over your life, that doesn't mean that one should never donate to charity or help people who can't fend for themselves. For some people, some kind of productive work involving plenty of charity might actually be what is in their selfish interest, proffessionally, but that takes thought to figure out.

An honest person striving to give an honest account of Rand's ethics would find this out with a mere 5 minutes of googling. This is quite simply proven therefore to be done by dishonest people. Contratulations.

[BCtruth]

Arguably the most inaccurate and misldeading summary of Rand's work and philosophy.
Fry, or whomever wrote the script, has no idea what she actually said or meant.
Terrible!

[Filpiovano]

Most people think Ayn Rand’s philosophy was just an excuse for people to get away with anything they wanted. Objectivism states that selfishness is ok as long as it’s rational, believing yourself to be great for no other reason than because you’re alive goes completely against her philosophy. That is the mentality of the people who expect everything to come to them for doing nothing, which is the opposite of the Objectivist mentality.

Objectivism also says it’s fine to help others, as long as it’s your own will to do so. Forcing collectivism on people ends up limiting our own potentials and suppressing our free will. We should champion reason over emotions.

(By the way, I’ve seen some people asking what’s wrong with Stephen Fry for misinterpreting some of these things - he didn’t write the script, he does lots of voiceovers for the BBC, they just got him to narrate what someone else wrote)

[MrApplewine]

Some of the things in this video are things she said. Other things are incorrect.

[christianhinojosa]

I'm an Objectivist and I LOVE to donate to charity

[ruairidhmcmillan]

It's such a waste of time to misrepresent something you disagree with, especially by reflex in ~120 seconds. Fry is usually more on the ball, but this is 5 years old I guess.