Unrugged Individualism : The Selfish Basis of Benevolence [Paperback]

David Kelley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1996

What is the nature of benevolence toward other people? How does it differ from altruism? How does it relate to the benevolent sense of life? David Kelley answers these questions in a groundbreaking work. Unrugged Individualism is the first philosophical analysis of benevolence from the Objectivist point of view, and a major addition to the Objectivist ethics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"David Kelley's careful and comprehensive analysis... is a memorable contribution to the study of Rand's ideas..." -- Stephen Cox, professor of literature, University of California, San Diego

"I found David Kelley's Unrugged Individualism fascinating and provocative." -- Lester Hunt, professor of philosophy, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"In his surperb monograph on benevolence as a necessary Objectivist virtue, Dr. Kelley beautifully fills a major gap in the Objectivist ethics." -- Nathaniel Branden, author of The Psychology of Self-Esteem and The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem

About the Author

A nationally-known philosopher, teacher, and writer, David Kelley has taught philosophy and cognitive science at Vassar College and Brandeis University. He is the founder and Executive Director of The Objectivist Center, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the works of Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism. His books include The Evidence of the Senses, The Art of Reasoning, and A Life of One's Own: Individual Rights and the Welfare State.

Product Details

• Paperback: 65 pages
• Publisher: Objectivist Center (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577240006
• ISBN-13: 978-1577240006
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,587,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why the true egoist is nice, March 24, 2004

By 

McEwan (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unrugged Individualism : The Selfish Basis of Benevolence (Paperback)

I thought this was a good little book. It's flaw may be that it's too short for the topic; or perhaps it's too much aimed at those already familiar with Objectivism, or with ethical egoism in general, so that the distinction Objectivists are trying to make between altruism and egoism remains a bit unclear. (Personally I don't like the word 'egoism,' but what can you do, that's what they [philosophers] call it). I don't think that any "other regarding" activity is altruistic. While making love, I may concentrate entirely on my partner's pleasure, not on my own; does that make such lovemaking "altruistic"? I don't think so. Or saving someone from drowning; while you're doing it you are being "other directed" -- but there are few greater rushes than saving someone's life! If it feels good, and enhances your life, it's egoistic; that's (crudely summarized) the argument being made. I would like to see the question more thoroughly explored. Part of the problem may be the darned word "ego," which is a lousy word to stand in for "true self," "highest self," "deepest and most essential nature," but it seems to be the word we're stuck with. BTW, I'm not myself an Objectivist -- for other, unrelated, reasons.

7 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking for the converted only, March 15, 2002

By 

TELLER W COATES (Newport News, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unrugged Individualism : The Selfish Basis of Benevolence (Paperback)

Kelley is on track as he attempts to lift benevolence to the status of a major virtue in the Objectivist ethics, but unless familiar with the inner-workings of Rand's philosophy, the layman will likely be overwhelmed by unfamiliar references to Rand's work. That said, Kelley's calm approach to reason is a pleasure to read as usual.

For Objectivists only; I hope some day we begin to see some authors that go the rest of the distance by communicating such ideas to the philosophical lay-person.

20 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exposes a gap in Objectivist thought; doesn't fill it, February 5, 2001

By 

John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unrugged Individualism : The Selfish Basis of Benevolence (Paperback)

To his everlasting credit, David Kelley has noticed that there's something missing from a philosophy whose adherents need to be _told_ that it's okay to be nice. By way of correcting this little oversight on Ayn Rand's part, Kelley has tried to provide an Objectivist account of the virtue of "benevolence."

And it _is_ a fine attempt. The problem, ultimately, is not that Kelley is anything less than competent; it is that the task is impossible.

And Kelley seems to know it. He does a very nice job of showing that the practice of benevolence is not, in fact, opposed to our real interests. But by his fifth chapter, he is reduced to telling us that "[b]enevolence is obviously concerned with our relationships with other people."

In fact benevolence is concerned with other people, period; benevolence, like justice, is an irreducibly other-regarding virtue. But Kelley's "revisionist" account of this virtue, in the end, merely reduces it to prudence. The possibility that the well-being of someone other than oneself may be _directly_ motivating to a rational agent is simply never raised.

What seems to be going on here is what so often happens with readers of Rand: the thought of even her most critical followers is drawn out of its orbit by a misguided loyalty to her ideas, and even such clearly rational propositions as "benevolence is good" have to be, if not rejected entirely, at least warped altogether out of true in order to "prove" that they're really compatible with Objectivism after all. As a result even comparatively sensible Objectivists, like Kelley, wind up offering accounts of other-regard that reduce it without remainder to self-regard -- in effect taking themselves to have shown, not that benevolence is prudent (which it is), but that benevolence _is prudence_.

The idea exercising the gravitational influence in this case is Rand's view that all moral standards are strictly "hypothetical imperatives" that follow from an a-moral and pre-moral "choice to live" -- and that therefore every moral principle proposed for any given agent must be justified _solely_ by its contributions to _that agent's own_ well-being. And Kelley et alia are at least right to recognize that something rides on this issue: give up this principle and you give up the "Objectivist ethic."

Of course, you also preserve the possibility of rights, justice, and benevolence, so the bargain isn't a bad one. But until leading Objectivist thinkers are willing to make that bargain, we shall continue to be treated to workmanlike attempts to prove that we can eat our cake and have it too, that "benevolence" isn't a "stolen concept" for egoists, that other-regard is not merely consistent with but actually _identical to_ enlightened self-regard -- that, in short, A is really non-A if only we believe sufficiently hard in fairies.