Business Philosophy
To some, it might seem far reaching to attempt applying philosophical principles in general and Objectivist principles specifically to business practices. Yet, unknowingly perhaps by most, entrepreneurs do it every day. An entrepreneur’s mind is their primary tool for achieving all their goals in life and work. The principles they hold direct every decision they make and action they take. How successfully they are at that depends on the principles they have adopted and practice day by day. So the question isn’t whether an entrepreneur has a philosophy that guides their business practices. All entrepreneurs do. The question is whether that business philosophy is a rational one that is understood clearly and practiced consistently. The following essays apply the philosophy of Objectivism to achieve that for the Objectivst Entrepreneur.
“As a human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need a philosophy. Your only choice is whether you define your philosophy by a conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation—or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears, thrown together by chance,..”
Ayn Rand
1 – Why A Philosophy?
It may seem odd to suggest that philosophy has anything to do with entrepreneurship. It is no surprise, like most people, an entrepreneur might find little value in studying philosophical ideas based on their limited exposure to philosophy. To many, philosophy conjures up images of Greek scholars in long robes proclaiming, as Plato did, that only they the philosopher kings are capable of interpreting the true nature of the world. One also hears of more contemporary philosophers debating ideas such as whether a tree falling in the woods makes a sound if there is no one there to hear it.…
2 – Individualism vs Altruism
Historically business practices have been considered at a minimum amoral if not in fact immoral. Business financing and profit seeking in all its forms, historically referred to as “usury”, was considered as immoral even by Aristotle, as he deemed it unproductive. It was condemned and punished by the Catholic Church during the Dark and Middle Ages; and this position remained unchanged until the 19th century. The Church considered it immoral as the profit motive was deemed exploitive and not consistent with the Christian morality of self-sacrifice. This was the morality of Altruism, the idea that the highest ethical and moral…
3 – Honesty and Integrity
With an Objectivist ethics based on Individualism, what moral conduct does this imply for an entrepreneur? Let’s begin with honesty and integrity. Honesty demands you be truthful with others. Integrity demands you be truthful with yourself. To be truthful is to be aligned with reality. To be untruthful is to be in conflict with reality, as it is an attempt to declare that which is untrue to be true. This is self-defeating as no one can evade reality for long. “Being honest is to be consistent with reality. To be dishonest is to be in conflict with reality, and is…
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