From libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara at Principled Perspectives:
In an article for XYZ, David Hiscox asks, Can anyone be truly selfish?
Hiscox tackles altruism and selfishness. I give him credit for tackling this difficult subject. I think he comes close to connecting. But, to use a baseball analogy, he just misses getting the meat of the bat on the ball. I credit him with a triple, but not a home run.
At this point, I urge the visitor to read the whole article, which isn’t long. Here is Hiscox’s conclusion, followed by an expanded version of my comments:
Ayn Rand argued that the benefit brought to others by selfish actions, although real, is not necessary to justify the pursuit of rational self interest above all else. Man has the right to pursue his own rational self interest simply by the fact that he exists.
But the knowledge that the pursuit of one’s rational self interest brings benefit to others cannot be expelled from one’s mind.