Talk:The Virtue of Selfishness

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Reception section[edit]

I removed the Critical Reception Section, the only thing in there was a reference to a modern library reader's poll which of course has nothing to do with reception by critics.Jtmeijer (talk) 12:47, 30 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I see the section has been expanded, I still think the poll is a bit ... typical ... but I'll let it stand for now.Jtmeijer (talk) 19:14, 19 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Again removed the reference the the reader's poll. Firstly, a reader's poll decades after publication hardly has anything to do with reception. Secondly, and in my eyes more importantly, the reader's poll shows a clear bias; this is especially clear in the novel poll at the same site which has 4 works by Rand and 3 by L.Ron Hubbard in it's top 10. A large discrepancy with the board's list.Jtmeijer (talk) 14:34, 3 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

On the term "selfish"[edit]

Isn't Rand's use of the term more consistent with the Japanese sense of the term "selfishness" than the normal English or American sense? I see the word "selfish" appear in subtitles of Japanese anime films in which it seems to be used in strictly the Randian sense: to mean not unjust action (such as force) to others in deference to one's self as we associate the term, but simply as a refusal to follow the crowd. I think this latter sense of "selfishness" is the sense Rand means rather than the former. The article could use a better explanation of this, perhaps with quotes from the book. --134.193.112.62 (talk)

I think there is a lot of equivocation in Rand's use of the term "selfishness." In some contexts, she seems to mean something like the pursuit of one's enlightened self-interest. In other contexts, she seems to mean simply a refusal to follow the dictates of the crowd, as suggested above. And in still other contexts, she seems to mean something like the more ordinary meaning of the term. It seems to me that via this equivocation she is able to glorify even the more usual meaning of "selfishness" as a moral virtue. JimFarm (talk) 13:50, 16 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]