(Book Log) Ayn Rand is a philosophical genius... that is all.

Due to constant interruptions, I am only half way through this book. Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness is the explanation of a concept called Objectivism. Objectivism is the philosophy which holds that man can only do for himself and should out of his rational self-interest as long as the action he takes does not infringe upon another’s rights. This philosophy is an interesting combination of Natural Rights and Classical Republicanism, oddly though she appears to incorporate the drawbacks of each philosophy into her's. At this point in the book it seems like she takes an altered version of enlightened Self-interest (The ability to act in your own interests follows on from self-acceptance and confidence.) that the "Big Three" religions teach; she calls this rational self interest.
     Brilliantly conceived and eloquently worded, Rand captures the very essence human nature, which is to value one life above all things, when you think about it, it makes sense. One example from this book was a situation in which someone had to decide whether to save his drowning wife and risk his own life or to let her die. At first one might think that according to Rand's philosophy one should let the wife drown, but thinking deeper you realize that it is in ones interest to save the wife because without her the husband would live a life of endless sorrow, so the risk to the husband's life is acceptable.
             Despite Objectivism's sound logic, one can tell that Rand did not gather this information from years of experience or interviews with wise old men, while reading this book it becomes apparent that she just made it up. Its not that it has any flaws in it's logic, but she the whole thing feels a bit off. However, some of the doubts that I had from the beginning of the book are beginning to be answered, so I assume that the doubts I have now will be cleared up later on in the book.