| Ayn Rand (1905-1982), Russia-born American female writer, philosopher, was oneof the most influential and controversial public intellectuals in modern times. After sheleft Soviet Union to the United States, she founded the Objectivist Philosophy. HerObjectivist Philosophy mainly includes metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and politics.The basic idea is to emphasize reality, rationality, self-interest and laissez-fairecapitalism. The virtue of selfishness is the core of Ayn Rand’s ethical thought. Aroundthis core, she put forward some ideas to many ethical problems of human existence,value target, conflict of interest, etc. and formed a profound and unique rationalself-interest theoretical system. Rand emphasized that reason is man’s way of life;selfishness is the essence of moral life, rational self-interest is advocated a so-calledselfish virtue. The formation of Rand’s ethical thought has its specific historicalbackground and her individual factors, thus it has great historical limitation and certainpractical significance.With Rand’s works translated to the domestic, the research and concern of her hasbeen risen. This paper discusses the formation process of Rand’s ethical thought and itsessence and tries to research the thought of rational selfishness. To be specific, thisthesis is divided into five chapters.The introduction in chapter one first introduces the background and significance ofresearch, and the current situation of research at home and abroad of this article; at last,it introduces the research methods and train of thought.Chapter two does the research into Ayn Rand’s influence in her lifetime and herstatus in ethics thinking. It introduces her living in Russia at her early years and hercircumstances when she moves to America afterwards. In this chapter, I also collateRand’s works in the light of time sequence, and then introduce her ethical thoughtaccording to The Virtue of Selfishness.Chapter three will expound the main content of Rand’s ethical thought. This chapteranalyzes the rational egoism ethics from the following aspects: the new definition of“selfishnessâ€, the critique of altruism, rational egoism and the virtue of selfishness. Chapter four is the analysis of the causes of Rand’s ethical thought. The reflectionon the development of rationalism, thinking about value target and the conflicts ofinterest has made Rand understand ethics more mature, and then has constituted herethics system. This chapter makes analysis of the several aspects to try to make aobjective knowledge of the formation of Rand’s ethical thought.Chapter five is the influence and evaluation of Rand’s ethical thought. Rand’sideas can have a considerable degree of influence in the United States, must have itsmerits. When her thoughts was introduced into China with her works, how is theimpact on our thinking. By understanding her thoughts, how should we learn theessence of which can enable our system of thought be more perfect?... |
