Chapter 4, "The 'Conflicts' of Men's Interests", Ayn Rand (1962) Summary and Analysis

In this chapter, Rand discusses the Objectivist principle that conflicts do not exist among rational humans. To explain this idea, Rand offers four considerations involved in a rational man's view of his interests: reality, context, responsibility, and effort. She clarifies that these considerations only apply to relationships among rational people who live in a free society. In a free society, she explains, people have the freedom to choose to only relate with rational people and to avoid irrational people. However, in a non-free society, it is impossible to pursue any rational interests.

Reality: According to Rand, a person's interests depend on the goals he chooses to pursue; however, these goals, if he is a rational thinker, must be possible to achieve. Therefore, desires, defined here...