The video of Ayn Rand that was shown in class instantly struck a cord with me. I have been a fan of hers throughout high school, and very recently have began to attribute the way I function with her "philosophy," which I previously had never even thought of as a philosophy.
I've been told all I care about is myself on several occasions, and often begged the question "who doesn't?" Yes we all care about and love our families and friends and signifigant others and so on and so forth, but who do you become when that other person is suddenly more important than you? Just the thought is impossible to me, to halt my own pursuit of happiness to help someone along theirs, in so making myself miserable in the process. Rand's theory provides a legitimate (if a philosophy is ever really a legtimate reason for anything) explanation for the way I am, or at least she gave it a name.
Objectivism says its okay that I find my sole moral obligation in life is to puruse my individual happiness, even says its the only way to go. You could ask yourself, "who doesn't put their happiness first," right? Well it turns out all those people who've ever questioned my actions in regards to the things I do to achieve happiness, and by doing so, being more concerned with mine than their own....which describes nearly every single person I know.
I guess my point is that whether I had ever realized it or not, some type of philosophy has the foothold on every aspect of life. Does any question we ever pose really have a definite answer?
I don't think so, but I'll go with the one that helps me along my path of happiness. And I'll go right on being selfish, and they can all continue wasting their time worrying about it.
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