Improved Clinch

In Praise of Self Interest

Interesting paper, long read, written by Stephen R.C. Hicks titled “Ayn Rand and Contemporary Business Ethics." In the paper, Hicks defends self interest and, interestingly enough, notes that many arguments against self interest were first propounded prior to the rise of science and industrial production when scarcity was a more pressing concern for most, 90% is postualted in the article, individuals. A couple of excerpts.

"The result of good thinking – knowledge – resides in individual minds, and it can be put to productive use only by the initiative of an individual. Only individuals know things, and only individuals can put their knowledge into practice. Several individuals may have the same item of knowledge in their minds, or several individuals may decide to work cooperatively on a project that utilizes their different items of knowledge. But the initiation of the group project requires sustained initiative by the individuals involved. Groups don’t do things; the individuals in the group do."

And this.

"But the particular question comes back: Why stick by the long-term commitment to production if a short-term commitment to thievery will yield you more?

The issue is being able to separate the short-term parasitism from the rest of one’s life. One’s life is a long-term commitment, and it requires a set of long-term principles to guide it and give it meaning. Who one is and what one achieves depends on one’s long-term commitments. A thief, by contrast, thinks short-range: I can get away with it. Maybe he can, and maybe he can’t. That is not the primary issue."

The second to the last sentence of the conclusion.

"Only a moral defense of self-interest, combined with an understanding of free market economics and classical liberal politics, will advance the free society and business, its economic engine."

Good paper.

Via Kernon Gibes who blogs occasionally at Not Ready for InstaPundit.

Posted by on 04/01 at 10:06 AM