Phil Elmore
Master of Arts
Rational individuals are self-interested. Their rights do not come at the expense of others. Rights are rights to action, not claims to the goods and services of others.
Altruism, the doctrine that self-sacrifice is the highest good, is self-destructive. Rational self-interest does not preclude benevolence, either -- for true benevolence is self-interested.
Human beings possess certain natural rights. They are born with the inalienable ownership of themselves and the products of their labors.
Governments are instituted among human beings within a free society for the purpose of protecting individual rights. That is the only appropriate role of government.
Reality is objective, not subjective. It is our task as human beings to perceive this objective reality. Our senses may be flawed, but they are nonetheless sufficient for the task. They are also all we have.
Morality must be based on reality and thus is it also objective. The standard of value for objective reality, the primary goal, is to promote and sustain individual life. This is not equivalent to life at any cost; an irrational life is not worth living. Some may attempt to argue that the choice to exist is not the primary goal, but they would be wrong.
Every individual needs philosophy. Your philosophy is the guide through which you make decisions regarding the goal-directed action that is essential to furthering your existence as a mortal being. Philosophies can only be judged according to the degree to which they facilitate the decisions necessary to this goal-directed action.
So there.
Altruism, the doctrine that self-sacrifice is the highest good, is self-destructive. Rational self-interest does not preclude benevolence, either -- for true benevolence is self-interested.
Human beings possess certain natural rights. They are born with the inalienable ownership of themselves and the products of their labors.
Governments are instituted among human beings within a free society for the purpose of protecting individual rights. That is the only appropriate role of government.
Reality is objective, not subjective. It is our task as human beings to perceive this objective reality. Our senses may be flawed, but they are nonetheless sufficient for the task. They are also all we have.
Morality must be based on reality and thus is it also objective. The standard of value for objective reality, the primary goal, is to promote and sustain individual life. This is not equivalent to life at any cost; an irrational life is not worth living. Some may attempt to argue that the choice to exist is not the primary goal, but they would be wrong.
Every individual needs philosophy. Your philosophy is the guide through which you make decisions regarding the goal-directed action that is essential to furthering your existence as a mortal being. Philosophies can only be judged according to the degree to which they facilitate the decisions necessary to this goal-directed action.
So there.
