Ayn Rand on the Virtue of Selfishness : A Critical Study
“I do regard the cross as the symbol of the sacrifice of the ideal to the non-ideal. Isn’t that what it does mean? Christ, in terms of the Christian philosophy, is the human ideal. He personifies that which men should strive to emulate. Yet, according to the Christian mythology, he died on the cross not for his own sin but for the sins of the non-ideal people. In other words, a man of perfect virtue was sacrificed for men who are vicious and who are expected or supposed to accept that sacrifice. If I were a Christian, nothing could make me more indignant than that: the notion of sacrificing the ideal to the non-ideal, or virtue to vice. And it is in the name of that symbol that men are asked to sacrifice themselves for their inferiors. That is precisely how the symbolism is used. That is torture.” (Rand, 1964b, p. 42) Undoubtedly the death of Jesus Christ is justly an action following the basic premise from His plan which Ayn Rand had argued: “death is the goal of His actions in practice—and you (men) are the last of His victims.” (Rand, 1957, p. 797) Furthermore, His performing action was determined by His Father’s whims which could not be considered as the means of virtue and value. But, conversely, it is damaging the value of self-esteem, self-love, and
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self-preservation. Therefore, the death of Jesus Christ is immoral because its objective is not proper purposes for living and surviving. Criticism on Any Rand’s the virtue of Selfishness Ayn Rand had started her concept by the virtue of selfishness with a man’s basic need for happiness, wellbeing, and survival as the ultimate goal of life. The argument mostly focused