Her definition may strike you as odd, it did me at first, but that’s because you associate altruism with simple benevolence.
But she saw something in the history of thought on the subject that you do not. She saw Kant and other philosophers turn benevolence into an obligation and then rate human goodness by the severity of the sacrifice.
So skipping a meal so your child could eat is good. Not feeding you or your child to feed another is better. Giving up your life, all your hopes and dreams, for the benefit of someone you don’t know or otherwise care about is best.
That is what Rand objected to, the notion that suffering for the sole benefit of others is the measure of someone’s worth and that you have no right to your own life and your own values and, in particular, that it is governments duty to make sure you sacrifice your “fair share.”
So if altruism isn’t the right word to describe that view of morality what is?
