A balancing act: how Ayn Rand pushes her philosophy toward objectivism over altruismIn The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, the author uses her protagonist, Howard Roark, to represent the ideal man. Roark is characterized as static, passionate about architecture, and indifferent towards others. If he shows benevolence, it is because it benefits him and does not take away from his identity. Rand's philosophy describes selfishness as the way to go, but while promoting it, it discredits altruism. However, both are important. A balance can be found by recognizing the place of altruism in society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Selfishness is considered immoral. Time spent on yourself can be spent helping others. There are, however, different forms of selfishness that Ayn Rand does not dwell on. There is unilateral selfishness, neutral selfishness and bilateral selfishness. Acts such as theft or murder may be considered one-sided selfishness. These are unfair because they benefit no one while harming others. The criminal gets what he wants, but the repercussions, such as prison or guilt, outweigh the positives. Neutral selfishness is something that has no negative effects. Spending more time in front of the mirror because you want to look attractive doesn't hurt anyone. Two-sided selfishness is when both parties benefit. The exchange of lunches may suffice as an example. In The Fountainhead, Roark demonstrates matter-of-fact selfishness when he says, “My work has been done my way. A private, personal, selfish, selfish motivation. It's the only way I function. It’s all I am” (Rand, 580). This is what Rand is touting. Selfishness is part of objectivism. Each person must be treated as an individual and not as a whole, and reason trumps religion. People need to think for themselves and put themselves before others. There is no “for the greater good” in Objectivism. Roark shows this through his career. He says: “I don't intend to build to get customers. I intend to have clients to build on” (Rand, 26 years old). He continually wastes opportunities because he lives by this belief system. Eventually it pays off, but only as modernism grows and people learn to accept his work and the conditions that come with hiring him. In Roark's testimony, he shows that selfishness is the root of progress and that everyone else is just parasites, living off the creators while persecuting them. He said: "He had left them a gift that they had not conceived and he had opened the roads of the world... The great creators - the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors - stood alone against the men of their time. . Every great new thought was fought against. Every great new invention was denounced. The first engine was considered stupid. The plane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered a sin. But men with a unique vision moved forward. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won” (Rand, 737). This shows that egoists are to be thanked for all inventions because they were born from the ideas of one person; they “served nothing and no one”. Roark attributes creation to selfishness because "only by living for himself could he achieve the things that makehumanity. This is the nature of success. Why is it bad to be selfish? Because people said so. They have come to believe that the whole is greater than the individual, without realizing that the whole is built from individuals and that it is the unique abilities of each person that allow society to function successfully. . Objectivism can certainly be supportive, but as the saying goes, there is too much of a good thing. The creators had amazing ideas, but they created them for themselves. It was the “parasites” who allowed society to advance because they shared the ideas of the creators. Selfishness alone is not ideal. The antagonist of this story is Ellsworth Toohey. Toohey represents society: he works for the whole, not for the individual. His belief system is governed by altruism, the practice of selflessness. Rand shows this as a negative idea through a conversation Toohey has with Peter Keating. He says: “Tell men that selflessness is the ideal. Not a single one of them has ever succeeded and none ever will. All his living instincts cry out against it” (Rand, 635). Toohey explains to Keating how he controls people. Being altruistic is not part of their nature, but man likes to believe he is invincible. To break the soul is to break the man, and the soul is broken by giving him something impossible to achieve. People are born selfish. It is “a law of survival”. Over time, however, altruism was praised as men learned "that their first concern is to relieve the suffering of others." […] To make this the highest test of virtue is to make suffering the most important part of life” (Rand, 680). Soldiers say no man is left behind. Religions preach that people give to the poor. Sports demonstrate cooperation and teamwork, but what constitutes one thing as profane versus another as right? Usually win. Someone helps someone else because that person might return the favor in the future. People feel empowered when they volunteer. They help others, but it involves personal gain because mentally it suits them. Katie, for example, becomes a social worker because she enjoys helping others and she thinks it's right because of the ideology that Toohey advocates. So can these acts really be considered altruistic? Being altruistic means caring more about the needs and wants of others than your own. The best example of a selfless person is a mother. Their job is to nurture and care. There are many stories of mothers who give their lives for their children. Altruism is a charitable idea. The main negative factor is that this is difficult to achieve, but society could certainly use more selfless people. Katie wasn't happy because she was trying to be something she wasn't. She lost a part of herself following her uncle. Becoming a social worker wasn't really an altruistic act because of the reasoning behind her becoming one. Altruism is admirable because it helps others. Rand assumes that one would lose oneself by putting others first, but that is not always the case. The whole thing is just as important for the individual. Some will say it's one or the other. However, Rand fails because she tries too hard to make Roark the champion when the ideal person knows how to be an individual and conform when necessary. Selfishness is not the time, but neither is altruism. The world is about balance. He needs both. Neither good nor bad. Although it would be optimal not to have harmful people, measures.