After three months, I’m done, finally!
I’m thinking about Ayn Rand’s postulating that each person’s highest moral purpose is the achievement of his or her own happiness.
I really don’t agree, but it’s been interesting to consider.
Certain aspects, for example, have a truth about them. For example, let’s say you’ve decided to give some money to a poor person. In the short term, sure, you are helping him, at least on a superficial level. But if you sustain this person (financially or otherwise) in the long term, you are necessarily demeaning him by preventing him from becoming what he could be.
If you were out of work and someone was giving you money and asking nothing in return, why would you seek employment?
Aside from that, I liked that fact that even though the book was written in the early 40s, I noticed far fewer anachronisms that I thought I would. I wouldn’t know how that’s done, or even if Rand did it consciously.
