Auguste Comte coined the term “altruist”, and it’s been toned down considerably from his original version of it, which held, in James Feiser’s terms, that “An action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone except the agent”
It’s a pretty horrific doctrine, and the word has been considerably watered down since Comte originally coined it. That’s pretty much the definition that Ayn Rand assaulted.
http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/altruismrandcomte.pdf
Page 363 or so.
Auguste Comte coined the term “altruist”, and it’s been toned down considerably from his original version of it, which held, in James Feiser’s terms, that “An action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone except the agent”
It’s a pretty horrific doctrine, and the word has been considerably watered down since Comte originally coined it. That’s pretty much the definition that Ayn Rand assaulted.