My Ethical Stance

 It may be helpful for me to define some technical terms that I will be using in my argument.

Psychological egoism is a descriptive set of terms that claims that people are wholly, or mostly and naturally motivated by selfish or self-centered aims.

I coined the phrase psychological altruism as a descriptive term claiming that people are wholly or primarily motivated by concern for others rather than themselves.

Rational egoism is the ethical theory that it is rational for people to act in their own self-interest. This is a normative claim for how people ought to act.

I am coining the phrase rational altruism to propose that altruists could argue that it is normative, desirable, and rational for people to act so that the interests of others are given higher priority in their personal calculations than their self-interest.

Ethical egoism is the normative theory that people should and are justified in pursuing their self-interest.

Ethical altruism is the normative theory that people should live for others rather than themselves.

First, I am an ontological and ethical moderate. What this axiom declares is that most conditions, states, persons, things, cultures, and material objects are a motley of different particles, traits, or drives. Usually, detecting and stating what is each of these things and immaterial things is listing their various components, but in their major to minor percentages of participation in the essence of the thing or state. When I describe a person or moral state with a definitive adjective, I am actually identifying a primary not sole trait as dominant. No human is a trait purely or solely, and nor is that desirable because the pursuit of purity breeds extremism, fanaticism, and violence, and these are vicious goals.

Second, I believe people are born wicked. We are wicked because we genetically are psychological altruist primarily, and psychological egoists slightly or secondarily. We are naturally lovers of hate, cruelty, tyranny, chaos, destruction, and violence. Part of our natures, the recessive aspect, is weak but can be trained and strengthened to the point that that willing agent's will and character are loving and virtuous.

Third, I will crudely, sweepingly characterize how Ayn Rand sees things, and how I so characterize people. This exercise is to be illustrative, and indicative, not a wholesale or completely accurate depiction of her views.

Ayn Rand regards selfishness, egoism and self-interest as good, and unselfishness, altruism and other-interest as wicked. She is right overall, though excessive selfishness can be wicked, and sensible altruism can be good.

Let me tie all of this together.

Rand is not clearly a psychological egoist but Bernard Mandeville is. I am not a psychological egoist, but am a psychological altruist. Because people have no self-esteem, run in packs, and serve the group's interests above their own, they are basically evil, little huddled collectivists.

The Mother and Father are rational egoists and loners, and Satan and Lera are irrational altruists and joiners. The Good Couple are good, and the latter Evil Couple are wicked.

I suggest that the self-actualizing individual is a mature rational egoist that is training his recessive, fragile flaccid egoistic self to grow strong, loving, confident, competent, and good.

Normatively, I promote ethical egoism in the agent, more than ethical altruism, but some group-interest must be maintained, protected, and included in the decisions and daily life of each individuator. 

Normatively, rational egoism more than irrational, poor instinctive altruism is emphasized, but rational altruism has its place.