Ryan Hanley's Lecture

There is an immense amount of information that can be said regarding Ryan Hanley’s lecture, but in trying to avoid being overwhelmed, I will simply just scrape the surface.

This idea that man has strayed away from an act of natural selfishness, the selfishness that is driven by the necessities of life, to an act of artificial selfishness, the selfishness driven by the need and desire of approval, in which Rousseau argues this (artificial selfishness) is due to the ownership of private property, is an idea that seems not only plausible but necessary. For, if human beings participated in a continuous act of natural selfishness, human beings would cease to possess the qualities of what it means to be human. Artificial selfishness is what separates humans from animals. I wholly agree with Rousseau that artificial selfishness brings about restless and misery, for the depression rate is steadily increases in society, but we will never cease to be dependant on one another, nor will ever cease to be in competition with one other. There will always be a desire to get ahead, to be one step ahead of your neighbor. Now, Rousseau argues that in order to correct this capitalistic society, equality should be our main focus, but Smith says no, and I agree. Smith argues that in an equal society, we would all be in poverty. Friedrich Nietzsche speaks on equality saying, "I do not wish to be mixed up and confused with these preachers of equality. For, to me justice speaks thus: 'Men are not equal.' Nor shall they become equal!" (Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra) Instead, Smith argues that morality should be our main concern. I agree, but how do we come to an agreement of the standards of morality?