And we have no choice to act in a certain way - inaction means death for all living beings. Therefore Reason must inform our actions, just as it informs our science, or our view of the world. This is the revolution of Objectivist ethics.
Of course, Objectivism is not the first philosophy to propose a rational, objective morality, and it is not the first to arrive at rational ethical premises. But it is the first integrated description of ethics. I will now examine this description, and how spirituality integrates within ethical premises.
First of all, something must be clarified. We sometimes hear that "people are naturally selfish". It depends what you mean by selfish. If you mean that people do what they think is best for themselves, that is trivial. Of course people do what they think is best, otherwise they would not do it. You have only repeated yourself.
But if you say that people really do act in ways that are beneficial to themselves, then that is false. In fact, following rational paths of action requires constant doubt and principled action. Our emotions, instincts, and social pressure all push us to act in non-rational ways. It's easier to feel than to think.
Easy to do are things that are bad and harmful to oneself. But exceedingly difficult to do are things that are good and beneficial.
The Buddha, "The Dhammapada", 163
While it is true that perceived self-interest is universal, this is very different from rational self-interest.
How do we measure rationality of action? First, we must understand that morality is contextual. To evaluate an action, we must examine if it conducts values promoting our lives, and by extension, the lives of others. The type of action itself has no bearing on this.
For instance, love is a very positive thing, and being in a healthy relationship is good because it permits me to be happy and enhances my life: but pursuing a destructive relationship in the name of love is not an action that rationally conducts to one's flourishing. Violence is grossly unjustifiable in most cases, but it is a good mode of action if we are defending our lives.
This is why any rational morality is inherently contextual, value-based. Good and evil are based on what our actions accomplish in terms of end-result, what it brings to the process of living, not what the action is. There are positive values, which are conductive to our lives - such as survival, flourishing, rationality, friendship, love, self-accomplishment - and negative values - death, withering, emotionalism, dogmatism, hatred, violence, sacrifice.
