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What if pain and suffering are the results that are wanted?

However, you are assuming that the prince believes in a heaven or afterlife. Some people do the right thing just because it's instinctively right. Yes, they may get some kind of biological "chemical" reward for doing the right thing, a feeling of satisfaction for having done good instead of bad, but that is the way in which an individual can distinguish right and wrong. If the body did not respond to right and wrong in those distinctive manners, it would be kind of hard to distinguish the two. So, yes, while everything a person chooses to do often results in something beneficial (ideally), that doesn't necessarily require selfishness. What about things like altruism?

I can see how Satanism agrees with your revelation. I read on a Satanist website somewhere that, basically, a person does not need threats of hell or divine punishment to keep him from harming his neighbor. Neighbors will treat each other civilly for the mere fact that they desire bonds of friendship. Basically, a person will be kind to another person in hopes of gaining friendship in return. Divine reward does not matter, because it is the friendship itself that is the reward that is sought.

I kind of got off task here, but ultimately what I'm trying to say is, even if every action results in something for the individual, it doesn't imply that the individual is selfish.

Take me for example! I LOVE pain...

>.>
<.<
Yes, I DO happen to be a masochist...

mmmm. pain is good. tho there are also bad types of pain, like soul/heart pain.
back on topic here, is you love someone but leave them alone because they dont love you, and you watch them hook up with somone else and get married and be happy, would the reward of seeing someone you loved be happy override the pain of letting them go??

The reward may be the avoidance of greater pain.

chaoticpuppet, you really need to do some research on Objectivism and Ayn Rand. She held a believe very similar to yours which she called "rational self interest." I don't believe in the actual philosophy for many reasons, mainly two:

1) It has become too much of a cult since Rand's death, when Peikoff took it over, and
2) Rand knew and even admitted to knowing very little about psychology, therefore her philosophy has holes in it where she tries to replace emotion with logic. But logic is hollow where emotion is not. Because of this, logic cannot replace emotion as she believes.

Her literature is quite good, however, not because of her philosophy or her writing style, but because of her unique characters and story lines (which were both controversial for her time period). I reccommend Anthem, as it was the best written and the least blown out of proportion with Objectivism. Here is a link to the book. It's really rather short.

http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/mcnally/anthem/index.html

Here is a link to the official Ayn Rand Institute:

http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer

And here is a link to an interesting page with thoughts opposing the philosophy:

http://www.jeffcomp.com/faq/index.html

I urge you to check it out.



Wow...

That's actually kinda...

I dunno...

Sexy! Lol. sweatdrop