[deleted] t1_j2599tb wrote
Reply to comment by SetentaeBolg in Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand by gothiclg
Mostly down to semantics then. I don't think anyone is saying saving a child and theft are the same, just that the deepest underlying motivator is a selfish one. But you are right, there is much more nuance and other motivation and I would think the OP would agree.
SetentaeBolg t1_j25a4qk wrote
It's not a "selfish" motivator to give up your happiness or well being for another.
Semantics is not an irrelevance. Words carry meaning. When you use the word "selfish" to mean "self chosen" you, deliberately it seems, rob the word of its usual meaning.
The "deepest underlying motive" of giving one's life for another is not selfish. It's selfless. Redefining those words is a choice whose effect is to blur the moral value of the act in exactly the way Ayn Rand would like.
"Selfish" does not mean "anything done through free will". As the vast majority of people understand the term, it means doing what you want regardless of the effect on others. Choosing to define it differently is choosing to misunderstand the common meaning of the term without any benefit.
[deleted] t1_j25f97g wrote
>Choosing to define it differently is choosing to misunderstand the common meaning of the term without any benefit.
You know, If you can come up with a better word for me, that would be great. In normal every-day conversation, I use the words selfish and selfless like you suggest. In this specific type of conversation, I feel like it's okay to use it, because we're talking about something very specific. Every act a person does, even sacrificing yourself for others, pleases you on some level, which means it has a selfish component. That doesn't make it entirely selfish, if we are judging the act in other, more practical ways.
In other words, this is mostly semantics.
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