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- In Plato’s dialogue, which would you choose to be, Glaucon’s good but suffering person or his bad but successful person? Is there a third alternative?
- Has Ayn Rand successfully defended her theory of ethical egoism? How does it relate to Socrates’ idea that one ought never to harm anyone else? Could one reconcile Socrates’ idea with Rand’s theory? Socrates believes that one should never harm anyone else because doing so is never in one’s own interest. What would be needed to get Rand’s theory to agree with that conclusion?
- Can the ethical egoist make his or her views public? If you follow Rand, should you let others know where you stand? Should you persuade them to be egoists? If the egoist cannot make his theory public, does this disqualify it as a genuine ethical theory?
- Evaluate whether this statement is true or false: “Everyone is an egoist, for everyone always tries to do what will bring them satisfaction.”
- Identify the three arguments against ethical egoism. Which of them, if any, refutes ethical egoism?