Chapter 1, "The Objectivist Ethics", Ayn Rand (1961) Summary and Analysis

The Virtue of Selfishness is a collection of essays written by Ayn Rand and her associate, psychologist Nathaniel Branden. The essays were separately published between 1962 and 1964 in the monthly publication The Objectivist Newsletter, with the exception of the first chapter of the book, "The Objectivist Ethics", which was published in 1961. In this collection, Rand develops the ethical principles of her philosophy of Objectivism. Rand's complex philosophy embodies all aspects of intellectual life including politics, economics, epistemology, aesthetics, and ethics. Though she does address issues of politics, economics, epistemology, and aesthetics throughout the book, Rand focuses on how these issues apply to the ethical theory of Objectivism.

In this chapter, Rand introduces her theory of Objectivism with a brief outline of Objectivist ethics, in which she attempts to validate the...