“The purpose of morality,” wrote Ayn Rand, “is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.” Is this true? If so, why? What does it mean for your life? And what does it mean for traditional morality?

In The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism, Rand presents revolutionary ideas on morality—ideas based on observation and logic. She explains how objective morality is derived from perceptual reality and human nature. She discusses the requirements of human life, given the kind of animal we are; the requirements of personal happiness, given our nature; the values and virtues that can help us to think clearly, live fully, and foster social harmony; and why today’s dominant morality, altruism, which holds that being moral consists in self-sacrificially serving others, does not stand to reason and is inimical to human life and happiness.

In The Virtue of Selfishness, Rand not only explains her ethics, she applies its principles to topics such as conflicts of people’s interests, when compromise is appropriate and when it isn’t, the source and nature of rights, how to lead a rational life in an irrational society, and how moral principles apply to emergency situations.