The Prophet of Causation
Chapter 1
Author’s Note: A while back, I posted the Preface for my next book, The Prophet of Causation. Below is my draft for Chapter 1, which is, er, also titled “The Prophet of Causation.” Don’t worry, it all makes sense.
This chapter was a bit of a logjam in the project, because I expected it to be a very easy adaptation from lecture notes to polished writing, and it actually took a lot more re-working than I had hoped for. I expect the next chapter to come together a bit more quickly.
I have a few specific questions to ask of my readers—some formatting decisions I made that I am not quite sure of.
I had originally planned this as the Introduction, but as it grew in scope I decided just to make it Chapter 1.
I decided to include sub-headings to break up the material—though I’m not sure of this, because if I commit to it in Chapter 1, I have to keep it up in the subsequent chapters. We’ll see how that goes.
I also included footnotes, but I am definitely not trying to be academic in my approach, so let me know if you think they’re useful.
Also, I usually don’t really want to hear about typos in my articles, because by the time I’ve sent it out to readers, it’s too late. In this case, it’s definitely not too late. So if you spot any corrections, please let me know.
As always, I welcome feedback on the philosophical content, its clarity, and anything you think I got wrong or missed or could have added. Reply in the comments below, or hit “reply” to this in your e-mail.
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Now here’s the chapter.
Chapter 1: The Prophet of Causation
Ayn Rand is best known for her radical views on morality, which she provocatively expressed as “the virtue of selfishness.”
This is not quite as radical as it may seem today. The theory of rational self-interest, often expressed as “enlightened self-interest” or “self-interest properly understood,” is an old idea in moral philosophy. When he visited America two centuries ago, Alexis de Tocqueville found this outlook to be “universally accepted.”1
What is actually radical about Rand’s philosophy is her re-conception of how to approach morality in the first place—an idea that she did not fully spell out until her philosophy had already been articulated, and after she observed a persistent misunderstanding among the new adherents of her philosophy.