The Apology

"You have just admitted that the good do their neighbors good, and the evil do them evil. Now is that a truth which your superior wisdom has recognized thus early in life, and am I, at my age, in such darkness and ignorance as not to know that if a man with whom I have to live is corrupted by me, I am very likely to be harmed by him, and yet I corrupt him, and intentionally, too?"

(Socrates, in response to Meletus, his accuser in Plato's Apology)

Though mob rule (democracy) and groupthink should now both be long and duly discredited modes of political rule, it is obvious that today's social climate suggests a long life for both. The Group, quite simply, is an abstraction or, as Kierkegaard would have it, the "untruth". Accountability dissolves the moment it is introduced into the Group. Take for example lynch mobs and urban riots and the utter incredulity that goes along with them. When Group feeling is married with violence, civil society breaks down and accountability becomes irretrievable. The riot almost always devolves from some noble cause to pure vandalism and physical violence. No individual ever had the courage to burn cars, break windows, spit on police officers and attack women and children were he held accountable for his actions (and he would be). Only within the incalculability and comfort of the mob would he get away with it. A jury cannot convict a mob (a group), only individuals acting on their own will within the Group. In reality everyone is acting on their own self-will, but in the most cowardly way imaginable.

This brings us to the virtue of selfishness, or self-interest. The above quote of Socrates should serve as a reminder that the good do indeed do their neighbors good, and they do them good not by laboring on their behalf or dictating their behavior, but by allowing them to live free and refusing to impede their self will. Socrates simply posed questions to the youth to show them the shortcomings in their logic and hopefully to spur them to refine that logic and gain wisdom. Ultimately it is up to the youth to decide whether he will heed this wisdom and humble himself, or yet become haughty and simply imitate Socrates' methods, thinking himself knowledgeable. Socrates in no way has forced the hand of those whom he has taught, and his more subtle point is that only the State would conceive of itself as so righteous as to be able to mold anyone's behavior by force. Were corruption his aim no one would know it for the youths themselves were there to testify on Socrates' behalf. Meletus is the true corrupter of the youth because he wishes to restrain them from questioning the State and its dogmas, and this includes respecting the authority of judges.

Self-interest applies to every self. It can not include interests that would do harm to others, for every action by the self must be restrained within its own sphere; actions that serve the self may serve others incidentally, but they can not in any way limit the will of other selves. This is a principle of negative liberty and one of the cornerstones of libertarian thought.

I think all will agree that it is good to serve others. It is also good for the self to serve other selves. Self-interest should not imply seclusion, or derision of the public, or a willingness to do by what ever means will bring one the greatest happiness. It simply implies sovereignty over the self for every self. It implies authority over one's own actions and never over the actions of others. It should never be said that service and selfishness are irreconcilable. I think history has demonstrated very clearly that the best way to serve others is to allow them to exercise their own self-will and judgment; any imposition of one will over another always results in friction and usually violence (or political assassination).