Ayn Rand on the Genealogy of Altruism by Ben Bayer

Ayn Rand made abundantly clear that the morality of altruism had no basis in reason. Where then, if not from logical arguments, did it originate? It is not enough to point to irrational philosophies: the ultimate question is, where did philosophers get the idea? This talk will explore Ayn Rand’s own views on the motives that led thinkers to adopt this irrational morality. The talk will also examine how her views on this subject developed and deepened between the writing of The Fountainhead and her later nonfiction essays. It will also compare her views to Nietzsche’s views in The Genealogy of Morals, which are similar in certain respects but profoundly different in others.

Recorded live on July 3, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

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[kathryndawson]

Your breakdown of the subject has clarified aspects of altruism and its existence for me...and especially why it continues to exist.

[frankrockefeller]

Excellent framework. Clarified so much in psychological and philosophical thinking.

[Oldcoots]

Brilliantly insightful! Thank you sir.

[Paul...Ego_sum_ergo_aedifico]

I just want join the others here in thanking Ben for this talk.
I appreciate the question and the answer on Wynand as an Attila in the context of Toohey the witch doctor. I also liked the question on the motivation arising from fear. On alturist philosphers, I would appreciate hearing more on the late leftist G. A. Cohen.

[dclrealtime]

Thanks, Ben. A great deep dive into understanding the roots of altruism.

[aeomaster]

Good to see Objectivist ideas radiating out into the intellectual universe. Well done Ben Bayer and ARI.

[SpacePatrollerLaser]

Actually, I was not afraid of Toohey in the sense that he could succeed and destroy civilization. I felt sorry for him after that speech of his. Read or listen to that speech where he lays it all out. What else could you feel for him

The answer to Eric's question: You can't: You can lead a horse to water; but you cannot make it drink: You can lead a soul to reason, but you cannot make it think

[shekfu]

I think altruism appeals precisely for the reason that it cannot be practiced and that gives people a moral get out of jail free card. "You can't be good allll the time". I'm only 12 minutes in but let's see what Ben says...

[TheRageaholic]

Altruism doesn't factor in for people who oppose abortion.
Ayn Rand herself argued the proper function of government was the protection of rights, life and property.
Holding to that thesis, someone who believes that a life is murdered during abortion doesn't hold any altruistic view whatsoever. They expect the minimum protection afforded anyone else.

[BenjaminHare]

Wonderful lecture. Incredibly informative. Where is Ben currently teaching? Can I take a class from him?

[louiselamontagne]

An extremely important lecture!!! Excellent.

[vladanlausevic]

Very insightful talk about altruism, thanks

[science]

The concept of reciprocal altruism, by Robert Trivers, is very important to evolucionary biology. Trivers is professor at Rutgers University.

[davidvanmersbergen]

Lots of conjecture about the motivation and psychology of pro-lifers, WITHOUT any evidence...how rational. Way to go and commit logical fallacies of generalization and strawman..Has he ever engaged prominent pro-life advocates and understood the arguments? I doubt it.

[patrickmcguire]

Good talk. But, in the instance regarding the group of people who apposes abortion, the lecturer just not have the full input on this subject to arrive at the correct conclusion. The lecturer does not understand that abortion is a gross disrespect for human life; not acknowledging God and God’s spirit working in and through the human form. Opposition to abortion does not spring from envy and fabricated altruism, on the part of the opposer. This lecturer can grow himself via cultivation of the Supra rational form of knowledge that exists within himself, even while at this point in time he has no awareness of it.

[thephilosophicalagnostic]

It's perfectly obvious where altruism came from. Biology. Our earliest ancestors HAD to help one another intensely if anyone was to survive. Think of the tightly-knit hunter-gatherer bands. Emerging moral strictures helped those people to survive, have children, have grandchildren and so on...right up to us. Did Ayn Rand take biological necessity seriously? I wonder.