Where There’s a Will, There’s a “Why?” Part 2: Implications of Value Determinism for the Objectivist Concepts of “Value,” “Sacrifice,” “Virtue,” “Obligation,” and “Responsibility”

Abstract

ABSTRACT The author continues his challenge to the “official” Objectivist view of free will by addressing the implications of his value-determinism/conditional-volition model for various Objectivist moral concepts including value, sacrifice, virtue, obligation, and moral and legal responsibility and accountability. He argues that based on Rand’s definitions, the conventional understandings of sacrifice or betrayal of values, lapses in virtue, and breaches in morality need considerable reconceptualizing. The author gives special attention to Rand and Kant with regard to lying, use of force, and acts of generosity, finding not nearly as much difference between them as is commonly believed.