Introduction

In this episode, Aaron Smith reads aloud his article, “The Suffering of Moral Saints.” In that essay, he analyzes Larissa MacFarquhar's book, Strangers Drowning: Grappling with Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices, and the Overpowering Urge to Help. The central question that MacFarquhar asks is “Is it good to live as ethical a life as possible?” As Smith shows, the fundamental problem with MacFarquhar's perspective is that she equates morality with altruism. He goes on to argue that this perspective is false — and dangerous. Smith’s article was originally published in New Ideal, the Ayn Rand Institute’s journal, on November 14, 2018.