The tiger and the she-wolf: the individualisms of Thomas Hobbes and Ayn Rand

Abstract

Theorists in the modern liberal tradition have abstracted and built upon the individualism put forth by Thomas Hobbes in the seventeenth century. Chapter One begins with an examination of Hobbes's individualism which defines human beings as sole proprietors of themselves and their abilities, and of his ethical egoism which prescribes the striving for one's own good. Chapter One goes on to show how Hobbes, with the premise of individual agents with natural rights and desires to fulfill self-interest, reached the conclusion of necessary constraint by a sovereign. Chapter Two provides a similar account of Ayn Rand's Objectivism, an attempt to create a firm theoretical foundation for individualism and ethical egoism. Her individualistic view of human nature is Aristotelian. Her consequent political theory, combining a constrained ethical egoism and substantial restrictions on the role of government, rests on the contention that rational individuals do not have conflicts of interest in pursuing rational ends. Chapter Three makes several criticisms of Rand's view, dealing with inconsistent definitions, incoherent beliefs, and unfounded conclusions. Hobbes and Rand both start from a individualistic foundation for their theories which involve ethical egosim; however, they arrive at dramatically different conclusions about necessary or desired political arrangements. Hobbes presents a system of almost total obligation and Rand, advocating laissez-faire capitalism, fails to present a coherent ethical theory or to deal with important social and political issues.