Altruism vs. America: Ayn Rand Solves the Problem

Altruism vs. America: Ayn Rand Solves the Problem - A lecture by Craig Biddle at UW-Madison on April 21, 2011. America was founded on the principle of individual rights-the idea that each person has a right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Since the country's founding, however, Americans have increasingly accepted a morality that is incompatible with rights, namely, altruism: the notion that being moral consists in self-sacrificially serving others. This talk examines the nature of and arguments for altruism, shows what the morality means in theory and practice, and demonstrates its stark opposition to the principle of individual rights. It then indicates the nature and objectivity of the only morality that is compatible with individual rights: rational egoism, the morality developed and defined by Ayn Rand.

Craig Biddle is the author of "Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It"; editor of "The Objective Standard," a quarterly journal of culture and politics; and a frequent lecturer on Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism.