The provocative title of Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness introduces an equally provocative thesis about ethics. Traditional ethics has always been suspicious of self-interest, praising acts that are selfless in intent and calling amoral or immoral acts that are motivated by self interest. Ayn Rand's view is exactly the opposite.

This collection of nineteen essays is an effective summary of Ayn Rand's philosophy, which holds the value of the individual over and above that of the state or any other "collective." The thread running through all of the essays is Rand's definition of selfishness as "rational self-interest," with the idea that one has the right to assure one's own survival, to pursue happiness, and to own the fruits of one's labor without having to sacrifice any of these to others against one's will.

Ayn Rand was born in Russia, graduated from the University of Leningrad, and in 1926 came to the United States where she was naturalized. Her first novel, We the Living, was published in 1936. With the publication of The Fountainhead in 1943, she achieved a spectacular and enduring success and her unique philosophy, objectivism, gained a worldwide following.