An excerpt from chapter 11 on Capitalism from Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand by Leonard Peikoff.
Capitalism implements the right code of morality because it is based on the right view of metaphysics and epistemology. It is the system of virtue because it is the system of objectivity.
In essence, “virtue” and “objectivity” denote the same phenomenon: the proper volitional relationship between consciousness and existence. “Virtue” denotes this relationship considered as the principle governing a man’s actions; “objectivity” denotes it as the principle governing his cognition. Each of these concepts, accordingly, entails the other; but “objectivity” is the more fundamental of the two.
The validation of the capitalist system follows the method of objectivity: certain political conclusions are reduced to the principles of a scientific morality, which are themselves reduced ultimately to perceptual data. Such a system is geared to the requirements of a reality-oriented consciousness: capitalism protects objective rights by means of objective laws.
Capitalism is incompatible with …
Read the rest in Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand.
