Randian Exceptions

On Page xi od her book, The Virtue of Selfishness, Rand seems to identify and label some egoistic actions as bad behavior: "This is said as a warning against the kind of 'Nietzchean egoists' who, in fact, are a product of the altruist morality and represent the other side of the altruist coin: the men who believe that any action, regardless of its nature, is good if it is intended for one's own benefit. Just as a satisfaction of the irrational desires of others is not a criterion of moral value, neither is the satisfaction of one's own irrational desires. Morality is not a contest of whims . . .” She dismisses Nietzchean egoism as counterfeit, bogus, ill-conceived, evil altruistic and bad. She seems to define a good action is one done rationally for one's own benefit. She seems to categorize actions rationally generated and planned as good, be they altruist or egoistic, although the motives for actions are best and most desirable when egoistically conceived for one selfish personal end. I think the world is complicated and tricky to sort out, most of the time. I would rather we draw up a list of actions, and categorize them as good, bad or neutral in value, independently of their motivation. Then I would rank them based on the psychological origin, whether felt or irrational, or conceived and rational. Rationally engendered acts usually are superior and better than irrationally generated acts, but both can motivating of good or bad actions. I would generally then want to categorize the act as in line with self-interest or other-interest. Normally, egoist acts are superior and better than altruist acts, but there are many exceptions and qualifiers that apply.