Freedom Ethics

The totally independent free individual is the only truly moral individual and only a moral individual is ever truly free.

The purpose of ethics in philosophy is to discover and identify the fundamental principles of right and wrong in thought and action. The objective of those principles is the success and happiness of the individual as a human being, as Ayn Rand wrote:

“The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.” [For the New Intellectual, “Galt’s Speech from Atlas Shrugged,” page 123]

The objective of moral principles is the success and happiness of the individual as a human being—happiness is the objective, but not the standard, not the principles by which that objective is realized. The principles are the objective identification of a man’s nature and the nature of the world he lives in. It is reality that determines the principles one must conform to if one wants to live successfully and happily in this world.

“Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value. What a man is and makes of himself…. There is no substitute for personal dignity. There is no standard of personal dignity except independence.” [For the New Intellectual,—The Fountainhead, “The Soul Of An Individualist”]

“Man’s life is the standard of morality, but your own life is its purpose. If existence on earth is your goal, you must choose your actions and values by the standard of that which is proper to man—for the purpose of preserving, fulfilling and enjoying the irreplaceable value which is your life.”

…and…

“You who prattle that morality is social and that man would need no morality on a desert island—it is on a desert island that he would need it most.” [Atlas Shrugged, “Part Three,—Chapter VII, ‘This is John Galt Speaking.’”]

In my article, “America’s Descent Into Savagery,” I describe one of the signs of moral depravity prevalent in all societies today, even among those who call themselves Libertarians, Objectivist, Voluntarists, and Anarchists. Like every form of moral degradation, and it is degrading, the loss of a sense of privacy and personal dignity is absence of moral virtue.

True moral virtues are only possible to independent individualists and I’ve listed and described the more important virtues below.

[Ayn Rand created two lists of virtues, one in The Virtue of Selfishness, the other in her journals. You may see those lists and her discussion of them in “Ayn Rand’s Lists of Virtues“]

Virtues of Individualism

Ayn Rand made a distinction between values and virtues, but the distinction was more rhetorical than philosophical. In truth, the pursuit of values is a virtue, and all virtues are the realization of values. In some cases, they are indistinguishable.

I’ve called them virtues, but they might just as well have been called the characteristics of the moral individual, or creators, or independent individualists. These characteristics are not something added to an individual’s character, they are an individuals character; they are what an independent individualist is.

_Competence_—Competence is not something we are born with. We must develop competence by developing skills and learning principles that make us able to adequately deal with every aspect of our life and experience.

Everyone’s ability to learn and develop skills is different, but everyone can learn all they need to live successfully by their own effort. Everyone can learn how deal with all the requirements of life in their particular culture and society, how to acquire and prepare food, how to meet probable emergencies, how to communicate with others.

Incompetence is a fundamental moral failure to use all of ones abilities and mind to learn and develop oneself into the best human being one can be. It is not immoral to fail, it is immoral to fail because you did less than your best to keep from failing.

Rationality Reason is man’s only faculty for determining what is true from what is false, what is good from what is bad, and what is right from what is wrong. To the extent and individual’s thoughts, choices, or actions are determined, or even influenced by irrational desires, passions, or whims that individual is dependent—dependent on whatever the nameless cause and source of those passions and desires are. Objective reason is the only means human beings have for making correct choices. An individual is free and independent only to the extent his thoughts and actions are determined by reason free from the irrational influence of other individuals or irrational desires and feelings.

Honesty First with one’s self, never evading or rationalizing one’s own surrender to desires, or habits, or weaknesses. being ruthlessly honest with oneself first, then ruthlessly honest with others, never faking who or what they are for any reason, especially for gain or position. One can decieve others about reality, and sometimes can decieve one’s self about reality, but reality cannot be “deceived,” and reality always rules. Defiance of reality always results in disaster.

Productiveness (creativity) (Production, intelligently directed creative action, is a fundamental requirement of human nature. If man does not procude, he starves and lacks all other requirement his nature from shelter to knowledge.)

Integrity (The kind of consistency produced by adherence to principles in every aspect of one’s life knowing that no intentional or careless violation of principles can be tolerated.)

Dignity (The character and attitude of knowing one’s value as a human being, the realization of all virtue is to be embraced and worn as a badge of honor. One who has developed the virtues required by human natre does not resort to the sordid, the cheap, the easy, or the squalid.) (Privacy.)

Benevolence (Magnanimity) (Comes from that confident self assurance that one is capable of dealing with any aspect of reality, the there is nothing to fear from others, and that others are either a source of pleasure and value, or they are irrelevant.)

Joy (happiness, pride, self-esteem) ()

Individualism, Not Subjectivism, Not Hedonism

In my article, “My Friend, Ayn Rand,” I explained Ayn Rand’s position on these to perversions of individualism, with which I’m in total agreement.

Because freedom is not license to indulge any mindless passion or desire, but freedom to use one’s mind to discover and choose those virtues that make life, as a human being, worth living and the source of the joy which human life ought to be.

I emphasize everywhere in the Independent Individualist as well as these Free Individual the freedom is only possible to or truly desired by the independent individualist.

Freedom means freedom to do, not to have, except to keep and have what one produces by their own effort. That kind of freedom is only possible to those who have a desire to do something and have the ability to do it.

That kind freedom is only possible to the independent individualist, to the fully competent to live without dependence on any system, or society, or others. This does not mean that the independent individualist is not eager to enjoy the benefits of living in a society where what is available to him is greater than he alone could provide—it means, he is not dependent on that or any society to successfully live and enjoy his life. For the independent individualist, all he finds of value in a society is a bonus, but whatever advantages a society provides him, he knows his productive contribution to that society is commensurate with whatever he gains from it—he knows whatever he has or enjoys he has earned and deserves.

A society, however, is only a value to the independent, when they are free to dispose of what they have produced as they choose, trading with others the product of his efforts for the product of theirs to their mutual benefit.