Books
Loving Life: The Morality of Self Interest and the Facts That Support It
Reviews & Reader Comments
“Since philosophy is required by all men to live successfully, there is a need for the fundamentals of a rational philosophy to be presented at an introductory level for all honest men to grasp.
"A new book admirably meets that need. Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It, by Craig Biddle, is a clear, simple, and—at less than 150 pages—succinct introduction to the essentials of Ayn Rand’s ethics. The author performs effectively the difficult task of taking abstract moral principles and concretizing them for intelligent individuals who have little or no prior knowledge of philosophy.” Click here to read the full review.
—Andrew Bernstein
“Those of us who are Objectivists face a daunting challenge in spreading our philosophy. Not only are most people ignorant of our ideas, they have been bombarded with and often swallowed the opposite ideas—intellectual poison such as mysticism, subjectivism, and altruism. This fact highlights a crucial principle of objective communication that all of us must follow if we are to be effective: always, when presenting our ideas, take into account our audience’s context of knowledge—and never violate it.
"An outstanding example of the proper implementation of this principle is the new book Loving Life: The Morality Of Self-Interest And The Facts That Support It, by Craig Biddle…. it is a great book, both for recommending to potential students of Objectivism—and for emulating in our efforts to convey our ideas.” Click here to read the full review.
—Alex Epstein
“[Loving Life] is the best primer on ethics I've seen, and it is an excellent introduction to Ayn Rand's Objectivist ethics.” Click here to read the full review.
—Ari Armstrong
“The material abundance and individual freedom that is the hallmark of capitalism rests on upon the ethics of self-interest, but today perhaps no code of morality is more misunderstood and maligned. In a profound yet easily accessible text, Craig Biddle demolishes the conventional wisdom that holds sacrifice as a moral ideal and offers a compelling alternative.”
—The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism
“...challenging, informative, thoughtful.... Loving Life is a fresh voice of reason.... very highly recommended reading.... ”
—The Midwest Book Review
“Based on Ayn Rand's ethics of rational egoism—but assuming no prior knowledge of her ideas or of philosophy in general—this short book argues that 'morality is a matter of the factual requirements of human life and happiness. It is a matter of reason, logic and the law of cause and effect.' The author offers dozens of concrete, everyday examples to illustrate the theoretical points discussed. From start to finish, Loving Life engages the reader with its lively conversational style.”
—The Ayn Rand Bookstore
“Over the past year I have been trying to increase my knowledge of Objectivism by making a commitment to studying the fundamentals of the philosophy. At times this has been difficult due to my lack of philosophical training, but, Loving Life has made a tremendous impact on my learning. It is the most clear and concise representation of Ayn Rand's morality of self-interest that I have read to date. Craig Biddle does an excellent job of explaining the different aspects of it in layman's terms, and for that, I am very thankful.
"The Ayn Rand Institute offers a recommended reading list for those who want to learn more about Objectivism. I think Loving Life should be placed right before Leonard Peikoff's OPAR for those who want to gain a clearer understanding of Objectivism's moral fundamentals before going into more detail that OPAR offers.
"If you've just recently discovered Ayn Rand's works and are looking for a good starting point for studying her philosophy, Craig Biddle's Loving Life is a most excellent choice.”
— Allen Prather, Crestview, Florida
“Loving Life is an excellent short introduction to Ayn Rand's ethics.... Biddle's writing is clear and engaging. His plethora of examples not only illustrate the ideas under discussion, but also show their real-life importance.... I can highly recommend the book for someone curious about Ayn Rand's ethics.”
—Diana Hsieh, Sedalia, CO
“A remarkable book. Loving Life explains with great clarity and simplicity the fundamentals of moral values and happiness, and why a person should follow the dictates of his reason and reject faith. This is a book everybody should read.”
—Porfirio Cristaldo, Asuncion, Paraguay
“This is perhaps the most approachable book on the subject of ethics that has ever been written. Using plain language and clear examples, Biddle has encapsulated the Objectivist ethics without bogging the reader down into the more arcane precursors to this science (namely, metaphysics and epistemology).”
—Johnny Lee, Avondale Estates, GA
“Biddle writes with a style that is easily understandable and his arguments are clear and unambiguous. As an introduction to Objectivist moral theory, this book is unmatched. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in Objectivism, but doesn't yet know the philosophy.”
—Michael P. Mazza, Haddonfield, NJ
“This book is a great introduction to Objectivism. It is a good bridge between the Fiction and non-fiction. An Objectivist will find nothing new in this book, but it is a great re-enforcer of Ayn Rand's works; a fantastic book for those 'peaked' by the ideas presented in the Fiction works. It is clearly written and a fast read. Buy ten and give them to friends.”
—Joel Scott, Long Beach, NY
“It is the perfect graduation gift for a favorite young person.”
—Betsy Speicher, Thousand Oaks, CA
“…dazzling clarity, remarkable precision, and amazing economy…. A wonderful accomplishment.”
—Wayne Dunn, Murfreesboro, TN
“…a complete demolition of the typical Conservative claim that without God there is no morality. Craig Biddle does an excellent job of refuting all sides (the religious and personal or social subjectivist) of that particular mistaken proposition in all their manifestations and proves his points both with authoritative quotes from the various advocates and helpful examples that serve to clarify the ideas in a manner far better than I've seen in virtually all presentations of this sort.
"…Mr. Biddle does not just stop there but spends the rest of the book presenting the proper alternative to the false God/Anything Goes dichotomy—a morality based on reason and principled self-interest. He shows how morality can be derived from facts and what the specifics of such a fact-based morality would look like. He concludes by outlining the essential principle of politics—individual rights.”
—Gideon Reich, Los Angeles, CA
“…a quick and easy to understand breakdown of Objectivist ethics…. If you're looking for the unofficial cliff notes to Rand's morality, this is the book for you. Great primer for anyone who may have read some of AR's fiction and wants to know more about why the ideas in her books are practical and correct.”
—Joseph Kane, Naples, Italy< Back to top