Re: PHIL: Egoism (Was ART: What Art Is)

From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lee@piclab.com)
Date: Mon May 29 2000 - 22:13:48 MDT


>> A consistent egoist can still love others; you may notice that many
>> characters in Rand's books fall in love, even risk their own lives to
>> save others.

> a shallow sort of love, based on rhetoric and idealism

Funny, that's exactly how I would describe so-called love
based on altruism or sacrifice. True lovers recognize the
joy of mutual exploitation for mutual benefit, and revel
in the wonderful way that fulfillment of their own selfish
desires is exactly what fulfills those of their partners.
It is conventional romance and suffering that is the tired,
hollow rhetoric that has destroyed the spirit of generations
wasting lives to find something that doesn't--that cannot--
exist. Only someone who values emself above all else is
capable of valuing others, of loving others honestly and
completely and joyously, unencumbered by childish fastasies
of romantic sacrifice and suffering.

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC



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