> Just read an interesting article by Robert L. Campbell, assistant editor
> of the Journal of Ayn Rand studies. The article called Altruism in
> Auguste Comte and Ayn Rand was (in my opinion) quite balanced...

> Just read an interesting article by Robert L. Campbell, assistant
> editor of the Journal of Ayn Rand studies. The article called Altruism
> in Auguste Comte and Ayn Rand was (in my opinion) quite balanced. The
> author, although an enthusiastic student of Rand's ideas, criticizes
> those who blindly worship her instead of her ideas.
>
> "I have quit using the Objectivist label, because I do not accept
> Rand's philosophy as a total package--and Rand, loudly seconded today
> by those who would rather worship her than think critically about her
> ideas, insisted that her philosophy be accepted or rejected as a total
> package".
>
> Anyway, The article investigates the origin of Rand's criticism of
> altruism as in the Randroid chant, "leftist do-gooders who live for
> others". The originator of altruism (the word at least) was Auguste
> Comte, and his early definition of altruism was
> "The placing of others above self, of their interests above one's
> own". Comte even took it further by adding "we should not love
> ourselves at all", and actively fight against such impulses. ...

>> Just a few comments. takem/leavem

>
> Altruism is not something thought up then written down, by Comte or
> bible, then followed . The word was and is used to describe a certain
> type of human behavior. IOW, writing it down as word or philosophy comes
> after the type of act itself.
>

> Altruistic behavior was, until recently, thought to be a characteristic
> singular to humans. However, science has found it is not. So any valid
> discussion of altruism should start here, it is instinctual human
> behavior in certain situations.  
>

> The school of evolutionary biology, called Sociobiology, pioneered by
> E.O. Wilson, has promoted the hypothesis that human behaviour has an
> evolutionary basis and that this has ethical implications. In his
> book, On Human Nature, Wilson argues that behaviours and cultural
> beliefs as diverse as altruism, religion and hope can be explained by
> evolutionary biology. Many of the examples of altruistic behaviour
> where one animal seems to sacrifice itself for the survival of others
> is now thought to be due to "kin selection", a variant of natural
> selection. This is the term given to the behaviour of an animal which
> favours the survival of another animal that shares a proportion of its
> DNA. Thus, a parent may sacrifice for an offspring "knowing" that the
> offspring shares half the DNA and has only to have two children to
> make the sacrifice genetically worthwhile. Similarly siblings share
> 50%% of their genes, nephews and nieces have 25%% and so on.
>
> Kin selection seems to explain much of what Wilson calls "hard-core
> altruism". This includes the song-call of birds to warn others of the
> presence of predators, that would seem to put the singer at risk. It
> includes the curious stotting of gazelles, whereby one will jump into ...

> What I'm a little about is Toohey. Rand says that Toohey is the worst
> thing a man can be, however it's not like he is doing it out of some
> duty (that Kantian duty), he actually believes in altruism and is
> happy about it. He chooses to be this way.

> What I'm a little about is Toohey. Rand says that Toohey is the worst
> thing a man can be, however it's not like he is doing it out of some
> duty (that Kantian duty), he actually believes in altruism and is
> happy about it. He chooses to be this way.