In Defense of Selfishness

When was the last time you felt guilty for putting your own happiness first? In In Defense of Selfishness, Peter Schwartz challenges one of the most sacrosanct beliefs in modern morality: that altruism—the selfless service to others—is the highest good. Schwartz’s core argument is simple yet radical. He contends that the command to sacrifice oneself for others is not only morally wrong but ultimately destructive to both individual freedom and social well-being. In its place, he argues for a morality of rational self-interest: a framework for living that respects your mind, your happiness, and your right to pursue values that sustain your life.

Across the book’s chapters, Schwartz walks you through a sweeping reappraisal of moral philosophy. He begins by showing how altruism masquerades as compassion but actually demands servitude, eroding self-responsibility and self-esteem. He dismantles the straw-man image of selfishness as greed or cruelty, reframing it as thoughtful, productive independence. He explains why moral principles—honesty, justice, integrity—are not sacrifices but tools for achieving genuine happiness. Then, through political analysis, he connects the ethics of altruism to the rise of collectivism, regulation, and even totalitarianism, arguing that self-sacrifice provides the moral sanction for tyranny.

Throughout, Schwartz’s tone is conversational but relentless. He invites you to reconsider what you might have accepted as moral common sense. Why, he asks, should your neighbor’s need be a claim on your life? Why should success require apology? Why is it seen as virtuous to give away earnings you’ve achieved through effort? Through vivid examples—from government welfare programs to the tragic self-erasure of religious martyrs—he reveals altruism’s core message: that your life belongs to others.

Why This Challenge Matters

This book matters because its argument goes beyond abstract ethics—it touches everyday life. Schwartz shows how altruism quietly shapes everything from education to business to politics. Students are told to perform community service instead of pursuing their own development. Entrepreneurs are pressured to “give back,” as if their achievements were debts. Governments confiscate wealth in the name of “social justice.” Each act stems from the same moral seed: the belief that self-sacrifice is noble. If altruism corrupts the concept of morality, Schwartz argues, only by restoring the legitimacy of self-interest can we recover freedom and dignity.

The Core Ideas You'll Explore

You’ll first see how altruism functions as a code of servitude, redefining “need” as a moral weapon. Then, Schwartz exposes the false image of selfishness promoted by centuries of philosophy—from Hobbes’s cynical war-of-all men to Nietzsche’s authoritarian “will to power.” Next, he introduces Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, explaining how reason, not emotion or faith, grounds a moral system that values independence and achievement. You’ll learn how altruism erodes core moral principles, how collectivism grows from its soil, and how even democratic governments morph into paternalistic states that treat citizens as helpless children.

Finally, Schwartz calls for a consistent moral stand—no middle ground between self-sacrifice and self-interest. He urges you to reject guilt and affirm your right to enjoy and sustain your life. As Ayn Rand famously said (whom Schwartz quotes throughout), “There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.”

Central Claim

For Schwartz, selfishness is not greed—it’s moral ambition. It’s the decision to think, to produce, and to live for your own sake. Altruism, in contrast, is not kindness—it’s a demand for obedience.

The result is a provocative moral defense of the self. In Defense of Selfishness is not just a rebuttal to self-sacrifice; it’s a call to reclaim your right to live rationally, freely, and proudly. Understanding that distinction, Schwartz argues, is the first step in defending both ethics and civilization itself.

Schwartz opens with a confrontation: altruism is not benevolence—it’s bondage. He asks you to look at how it operates in practice. When high school students are forced to volunteer at soup kitchens to graduate, when entrepreneurs are pressured to donate wealth out of guilt, or when professionals are compelled to prioritize others’ needs over safety or judgment—these are not acts of generosity but obedience to a moral master called “need.” Altruism, he says, demands that those who have ability, energy, or success become servants to those who lack it.

The Tyranny of Need

At the core of altruism lies a moral trick: defining “need” as an unearned claim on others. In practical terms, it means the person who cannot produce is granted moral superiority over the person who can. Schwartz illustrates this with striking examples—a dentist sued for refusing to treat an HIV-positive patient in his private office, students required to scrub hospital floors for diplomas, and even teachers punished for rewarding excellence. In every case, the productive individual is coerced to sacrifice the values that sustain his life.

Why Self-Sacrifice Breeds Dependence

Once people accept that others’ needs create moral obligations, society becomes a web of dependency. The needy stop striving; the able are taught guilt. The result, Schwartz writes, is not harmony but resentment: "When altruism instructs you to surrender what you’ve earned, it doesn’t eliminate greed—it institutionalizes it." This insight parallels Ayn Rand’s view (in The Virtue of Selfishness) that altruism transforms moral relationships into parasitic ones—one person’s duty matched to another’s demand.

The Servant Culture

Schwartz argues that altruism has turned modern culture into a moral hierarchy—with the needy enthroned above the strong. Examples like youth sports leagues suspending talented players so weaker teams win show how selflessness inverts justice. Even love becomes duty: revering enemies, praying for persecutors, and denying self-worth. In his view, Christianity historically sanctified this degradation through teachings like “love thy enemies” and “turn the other cheek.” The modern welfare state, though secular, continues the same creed—replacing divine command with social consensus.

Key Point

Altruism’s morality does not elevate human sympathy—it abolishes independence. It transforms you from a thinker into a servant, whose worth is measured by how completely you can negate your own values for others.

By redefining goodness as self-denial, Schwartz concludes, altruism becomes a philosophy of moral slavery. It robs people of the ability to say, “My life matters,” and replaces it with obedience to those who claim the greatest need.

To defend altruism, Schwartz says, moralists first build a straw man—distorting selfishness into cruelty. They equate the predator with the producer, merging Attila the Hun with the honest entrepreneur. From Nietzsche’s “will to power” to Hobbes’s brutish survivalism, philosophical history miscasts self-interest as a war against others. Schwartz meticulously dismantles this fiction.

Redefining Selfishness

True selfishness, he insists, is not predation but thoughtful independence. The businessman who invents and trades is selfish, but not at anyone’s expense. The artist who refuses compromise to preserve integrity, like Howard Roark in Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, embodies moral ambition: loyalty to one’s judgment against pressure to conform. “That was the most selfish thing you’ve ever seen a man do,” Roark says when refusing a lucrative contract that would corrupt his design—the line becomes Schwartz’s central creed.

Rational vs. Irrational Egoism

Schwartz contrasts rational egoism—self-interest guided by reason—with irrational egoism—whim-driven desire. He explains that genuine self-interest requires logic, long-range thinking, and honest trade, not deceit or exploitation. “Force,” he writes, “is the enemy of reason—and of self-interest.” This echoes Rand’s Objectivism, which roots morality in facts, not feelings. By implication, the predator who plunders is not selfish, but self-destructive.

The Moral Fraud

Why then do cultures vilify self-interest? Schwartz argues that altruists deliberately erase its authentic meaning. They redefine sacrifice as virtue and profit as vice, until selfishness carries only negative connotations. This linguistic trick—calling the productive “greedy” and the generous “selfish”—makes moral independence impossible. To reclaim morality, he says, we must restore the word’s rightful sense: to be selfish is to pursue one’s life rationally, without victimizing or being victimized.

Lesson

Selfishness is not the enemy of morality—it’s its foundation. Every honest achievement, loving relationship, and principled stand arises from valuing one’s own life and mind.

By reclaiming the true meaning of selfishness, Schwartz shows how moral clarity and personal happiness depend on rejecting the lie that virtue and self-interest are opposites.

Schwartz’s third major idea is that morality, properly understood, is practical. Moral principles like honesty, integrity, and justice are not burdens—they are life-preserving methods. Using Aristotle’s law that “A is A,” Schwartz argues that reality demands consistency. To sustain life, you must act in harmony with facts, not emotions or convenience. Altruism, he says, treats morality as sacrifice; egoism treats morality as survival.

Honesty as Self-Preservation

Schwartz uses vivid examples—a cheating husband trapped in lies, a thief at war with truth—to show how dishonesty corrodes consciousness. When you fake reality, you make the truth your enemy. Principles prevent that corrosion: honesty keeps your mind grounded; justice aligns you with facts about others; integrity binds your convictions to your actions. Each principle, he notes, is selfish because it strengthens the link between your mind and reality.

Why Altruism Destroys Morality

Altruism inverts this logic. It tells you to lie to spare feelings, be “merciful” rather than just, and compromise integrity to satisfy others’ needs. Thus, moral principles—meant as guides to reality—become tools for self-abnegation. Schwartz recounts absurd cases, like corporations rehiring convicted murderers under anti-discrimination laws or universities appointing arsonists as fire marshals, all under the guise of “compassion.” These acts, he says, display altruism’s contempt for truth and desert.

Rational Egoism and Harmony

Only rational egoism, he maintains, can eliminate conflicts of interest. In a world of traders, not takers, each gains through cooperative exchange. Schwartz’s example of Bill Gates versus Peter Singer illustrates the impossibility of satisfying altruism’s demands: no amount of giving ever absolves success. Self-sacrifice, far from preventing conflict, creates perpetual guilt and envy. By contrast, selfishness guided by principle produces justice, trust, and peace among individuals.

Insight

Morality and practicality are not opposites. Every honest act is moral because it’s practical; every compromise of truth is immoral because it’s self-destructive.

In short, Schwartz redefines ethics: principles are not constraints—they’re cognitive tools enabling reason and happiness. Morality becomes not a code of sacrifice but a guide to living well.

The phrase “for the public good” sounds noble, but Schwartz shows it’s altruism in disguise. Whether funding parks, regulating business, or redistributing income, the public interest demands that some pay for others’ desires. The result is moral confusion: citizens sacrifice for causes they don’t value under the illusion of collective benefit. Schwartz unmasks this as the political application of altruism’s creed.

The Scam of Collective Need

He explains how the welfare state replaces voluntary trade with enforced charity. When a city funds zoos, libraries, or museums with taxes, it’s not serving the public—it’s coercing individuals to purchase what others want. Examples like prohibitions on self-service gas stations or mandatory GPS devices in taxis show government overriding personal judgment “for our own good.” Collectivism, Schwartz argues, rests on the idea that the individual cannot know what benefits him—only the state can.

The Philosophy Behind Collectivism

Tracing this mentality to philosophers like Hegel and Dewey, Schwartz reveals its metaphysical roots. Hegel’s “ethical whole” subordinates individuals to the state; Dewey’s progressive education trains children to conform to group values. Both deny the reality of independent thought. Thus, altruism’s heart preponderates over intellect. As students are taught to “saturate their spirits with service,” future citizens learn obedience.

Freedom as the Only Common Good

Against this, Schwartz proposes a radical alternative: a genuine public interest exists only in freedom—the right of each individual to act by his own judgment. No person benefits from coercion. The only true collective good is the sum of independent pursuits. Quoting Ayn Rand, he reminds us that “the smallest minority on Earth is the individual.” Destroying autonomy destroys everyone.

Takeaway

There is no “society as a whole” apart from individuals. When you hear the call to “serve the public,” Schwartz urges you to ask: who exactly is being served—and who is paying the price?

For Schwartz, collectivism is altruism made political. It replaces moral guilt with legal obligation—a system where freedom is sacrificed, one need at a time.

Schwartz’s next insight is decisive: altruism annihilates rights. If your life is owed to others, you cannot be free. He contrasts the altruist’s “duty to serve” with John Locke’s principle that rights exist by nature, not permission. Where altruism imposes duties, egoism upholds freedom: you act by your own judgment, not by moral debt.

The Religious and Secular Variants

Religion demands sacrifice to God; altruism demands sacrifice to society. Both rest on faith—the rejection of reason in favor of obedient belief. Schwartz compares the medieval church’s tyranny of salvation to the secular welfare state’s tyranny of compassion. Either way, the reasoning mind must bow. Only when man asserts his rational faculty can he resist servitude.

Capitalism as Moral Freedom

Building on Ayn Rand’s concept of rights as “freedom of action in a social context,” Schwartz defends capitalism as the only system consistent with morality. In capitalism, government’s purpose is not charity but protection—from force and fraud. Police, courts, and military—all necessary defenses—are the only legitimate uses of state power. Everything else, from schools to healthcare, must remain voluntary. No forced altruism, no coerced equality.

Equality Without Sacrifice

Equality in capitalism means equality of rights, not results. The altruist confuses fairness with sameness, demanding “economic equality” through redistribution. Schwartz refutes this, showing that true justice rewards effort and productivity. When CEOs earn more than janitors, it’s not exploitation—it’s merit. Attempts to eliminate wealth disparity only destroy opportunity for all.

Core Lesson

Freedom and rights depend on egoism. To keep what you earn, speak what you believe, and create what you value, you must reject the premise that your life is collective property.

In Schwartz’s view, capitalism is not merely practical—it’s the moral opposite of altruism. It affirms self-ownership, ends servitude, and places the individual mind above the needs of the crowd.

In one of the book’s most extensive chapters, Schwartz dissects the welfare-regulatory state—the political version of altruism’s creed. When the government seeks to “take care” of citizens, it inevitably assumes control. Altruism, he writes, views man as helpless, so regulators treat citizens as children who must be protected from themselves.

From Welfare to Regulation

Schwartz shows how programs like Social Security, the FDA, and countless paternalistic laws (from soda bans to helmet mandates) stem from the belief that people cannot choose wisely. The regulator does not prevent fraud—he prevents freedom. The FDA’s drug bans, for instance, deny patients their right to weigh risks and benefits, replacing individual judgment with bureaucratic decree. “Your life is not collective property,” Schwartz argues, yet the paternal state treats it as such.

Why Self-Interest Creates Safety

Countering paternalism, Schwartz explains that the profit motive itself is the greatest guarantor of safety and honesty. Businesses prosper only by producing value; their reputations are their lifeblood. He cites private certifiers—Underwriters Laboratories, Consumer Reports, VeriSign—as examples of market-based integrity. Profit is not corruption but motivation to protect customers. Bureaucracy, in contrast, thrives on obstruction and fear of blame.

The Logic of Control

At its root, regulatory altruism relies on a mental inversion: the belief that disinterest equals objectivity. The state claims moral purity because it acts “selflessly.” But, Schwartz asks, if self-interest corrupts thought, why are regulators immune? From kidney-sale bans to immigration restrictions, every control sacrifices choice for emotional moralism. The result is a society ruled by “nannies” and guided by guilt.

Warning

Every welfare program begins with compassion and ends with coercion. When care replaces liberty, altruism hardens into authoritarianism.

Schwartz concludes that paternalism is collectivism with a smile—protective in rhetoric, tyrannical in effect. Only moral independence can break the straitjacket.

In Chapter Seven, Schwartz explores the psychological abyss of selflessness. True altruism, he argues, demands not only material sacrifice but the surrender of your mind and convictions. A selfless person must hold no independent ideas, no pride, no sense of personal worth. Cognition itself becomes selfish because thinking means recognizing values that support your life.

Faith Over Reason

Since altruism cannot justify sacrifice rationally, it demands faith. “Faith is the suspension of the rational faculty,” Schwartz writes, showing how religions and modern philosophies alike glorify humility, guilt, and dependence. From Pope Innocent III’s declaration that man is “mud and ashes” to Billy Graham’s exhortation to become “a worm,” humility replaces pride. In secular culture, nihilistic intellectuals echo the same message: man is meaningless, rationality is illusion, heroism is naïve.

From Selflessness to Obedience

Self-abnegation prepares the mind for submission. Schwartz’s chilling examples—the suicides at Jonestown, Islamist bombers, and Nazi order-followers—show how faith and need merge into moral annihilation. “I tell you,” Goering once said, “if the Führer wishes it, then two times two are five.” This, Schwartz concludes, is altruism’s ultimate product: a human being emptied of judgment, waiting to be filled by others.

Insight

Selflessness is not virtue—it’s vacancy. When you surrender your mind, you become not saintly but subhuman, a “zombie order-follower” incapable of moral or intellectual autonomy.

By linking altruism to historical atrocities, Schwartz underscores its danger. Moral emptiness, when institutionalized, becomes obedient evil. Self-sacrifice, taken to its logical end, devours the self entirely.

In his final chapters, Schwartz clarifies the existential stakes: life requires a consistent code of values. You cannot mix self-interest and self-sacrifice without contradiction. Every compromise between freedom and duty erodes principle. “There is no splitting the difference,” he writes; the middle ground between egoism and altruism collapses under its own inconsistency.

The Need for Consistency

You must choose: do you live for yourself or for others? The mother torn between private schooling and public “service,” the citizen torn between charity and guilt—these dilemmas arise from mixed ethics. Life, Schwartz explains, demands rational integration across all actions, since reality is absolute. A single act against reason—like playing moral “Russian roulette”—corrupts integrity. Altruism’s gray morality blinds you by confusion.

Idealism Reclaimed

Where altruism preaches despair and compliance, egoism offers idealism and pride. Schwartz ends with a vision of man as noble, rational, and productive—the moral being Aristotle described and Ayn Rand celebrated. To choose self-interest is to embrace joy as your moral purpose. It’s the courage to think, act, and love rationally. Altruism is anti-life; egoism is life-affirming.

Living the Choice

Schwartz’s closing exhortation is personal: do not appease guilt by claiming your achievements “benefit society.” Do not apologize for self-interest. “Don’t describe love or friendship as self-sacrificial,” he warns, “or benevolence as altruism.” Your actions enrich others because they are good for you, not because they are duties. To live morally is to live proudly—for yourself.

Final Message

Be proud of the fact that you refuse to surrender the inestimable value that is your life and the inviolate purpose that is your happiness.

By choosing consistent rational selfishness, Schwartz concludes, you affirm life itself—a life of thought, freedom, and earned joy, not sacrifice and guilt.