First of all, Congratulations on this excellent website. It is a pleasure to

First of all, Congratulations on this excellent website. It is a pleasure to

First of all, Congratulations on this excellent website. It is a pleasure to discover a place on the Internet where the public may present philosophical questions for review by experts. My question is in regards to selflessness and selfishness. I view self-sacrifice as noble and a moral good, and that selfishness is repugnant and a moral wrong. With this in mind, I would like to ask about how to counter an idea posed in a quote by Ayn Rand: “Why is it immoral to produce a value and keep it, but moral to give it away? And if it is not moral for you to keep a value, why is it moral for others to accept it? If you are selfless and virtuous when you give it, are they not selfish and vicious when they take it? Does virtue consist of serving vice?” Can this view of selflessness be countered? I am essentially concerned about if an act of selflessness/self-sacrifice merely allows a selfishness elsewhere to be validated and to profit. Does a selfless act, by necessity, exist with and serve a selfishness? Moreover, is what condemns the self-interestedness of one person nothing more than the self-interestedness of another? Has this particular issue arisen in philosophical/ethical discussion? Please let me know if I have neglected something crucial. Thank you very much, and keep up the great work.

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