According to Russian-American novelist and philosopher, Ayn Rand, our highest duty is to ourselves, therefore it is irrational to look out for the best interest of others.  Rand’s philosophical approach, which she labelled ‘Objectivism’, begins from the premise that there is an objective reality which human beings understand through reason, rather than emotion. Rand asserts that since our survival is based on pursuing our own rational self-interest, requiring individual’s to sacrifice for the greater good is immoral.

From the BBC Radio 4 series about life’s big questions – A History of Ideas. http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofideas

This project is from the BBC in partnership with The Open University, the animations were created by Cognitive.