Introduction to Unrugged Individualism
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When Howard Roark first goes to see Steven Mallory, in Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead, Roark finds the sculptor in a state of semi-drunken despair, his idealism battered by the conformity, cynicism, and vulgarity he sees around him. When Mallory discovers that Roark's idealism is genuine but unbattered, he breaks down, sobbing, and Roark offers solace.
After a while Mallory sat up. He looked at Roark and saw the calmest, kindest face—a face without a hint of pity. It did not look like the countenance of men who watch the agony of another with a secret pleasure, uplifted by the sight of a beggar who needs their compassion; it did not bear the cast of the hungry soul that feeds upon another's humiliation. Roark's face seemed tired, drawn at the temples, as if he had just taken a beating. But his eyes were serene and they looked at Mallory quietly, a hard, clean glance of understanding—and respect.
Roark's kindness to Mallory, marked by "understanding and respect" rather than any "secret pleasure" at the latter's agony, is portrayed as a genuine virtue. It is a moving scene of benevolence between human beings, one of many that occur in Rand's novels. "Benevolence" means good will toward others. It is a positive attitude toward people in general, a desire for their well-being and for peaceful, cooperative relationships with them. It is contrasted with hostility, malice, envy, or other forms of malevolence. It includes such traits as kindness, generosity, sympathy, charity, and tolerance as elements. (In moral philosophy, these latter are sometimes called the "virtues of benevolence.") The author of The Fountainhead and of Atlas Shrugged clearly regarded benevolence as a positive trait, an element in the proper relationships among men.
Yet the author of "The Objectivist Ethics," and of other essays that presented the moral code of Objectivism in nonfiction terms, never gave this trait the kind of emphasis and attention she devoted to virtues like rationality, productiveness, and justice. Rand wrote an essay on one aspect of benevolence, the help one should give to strangers in an emergency, but neither she nor any of her followers and interpreters produced a systematic philosophical analysis of benevolence in general, as an everyday attitude toward living with other people in society.
Such an analysis would have to address the following basic questions:
- What is the relationship between benevolence
and altruism? Since the Objectivist ethics rejects altruism as a moral principle,
Objectivists cannot advocate benevolence without distinguishing it clearly from altruism.
How is this distinction to be drawn?
- What is the relationship between benevolence
toward others and the benevolent view of the universe (or the benevolent sense of life),
which Rand discusses in her writings on aesthetics? As we will see, this is a key question
for our understanding of benevolence.
- What is the status of benevolence in the
Objectivist ethics? How is it to be defined as a virtue? How does it relate to the primary
values and virtues that Objectivism endorses? Is it a major virtue or a minor one?
- What are the elements of benevolence? What specific kinds of actions does it require of us in dealing with others?
Rand did address the first of these questions, concerning benevolence and altruism. She argued that altruism is not the basis of good will toward others, and in fact is incompatible with it. Yet if we do not have answers to the other questions on the list, benevolence remains a kind of afterthought, a neglected virtue, in the Objectivist ethics. Such neglect has consequences. It contributes to the perception of Objectivism as a cold and even a cruel doctrine of "rugged" individualism. The critics who accuse Rand of advocating the greedy pursuit of one's own gain at the expense of others are grossly misrepresenting her views. But the misrepresentation sticks because the Objectivist critique of altruism has been much more prominent than the Objectivist defense of benevolence.
There have also been consequences for Objectivists themselves. As guidance in dealing with other people, the moral code of Objectivism stresses the virtue of justice, and especially the necessity for moral judgment. It has not given equal emphasis to the positive, outgoing, benevolent attitude that ought to be an important part of a life-affirming philosophy. As a result, many Objectivists feel alienated from the people around them, keenly aware of their faults but not their potential for good, more comfortable pulling weeds than making the flowers grow.
This essay addresses such problems by offering the first comprehensive Objectivist analysis of benevolence. Chapter 2 examines the relationship between benevolence and altruism, contrasting Ayn Rand's view with that of conventional morality and posing the question whether benevolence is a major or a minor virtue. Chapter 3 examines the relationship between benevolence and the "benevolent view of the universe." Benevolence toward others is often seen as a response to failure, suffering, and loss on their part - a response to negative features of life and thus a minor virtue from the standpoint of the benevolent view of the universe. I will show, however, why benevolence is essentially a commitment to achieving a positive value, and why it is a major virtue, comparable in many respects to productiveness. My reasons for this conclusion are provided in Chapters 4-7, which explain the importance of benevolence in obtaining the benefits derivable from other people. In Chapters 8-10, finally, I will discuss civility, sensitivity, and generosity as important components of benevolence.