What is Interest#
When denying oneself as a partner of justice, one often uses interest as a cover. That is, I act for my own interest, not for justice. But what is interest?
The world is bustling, all for the sake of interest, the world is chaotic, all for the sake of interest. It can be seen that interest is also something intangible. Applying the perspective of objectivism, what does interest look like? It is something that everyone wants to obtain.
Inducing Interests from Individual Cases#
Since the pursuit of interest is an individual's specific behavior in reality, interest is inevitably the greatest common denominator of everyone's interests, so let's analyze it from the perspective of an individual.
For a baby born in 2023, their interest may be to compete for control of the nipple.
For a 10-year-old student in 2023, their interest may be to protect their study interests and not be disturbed by adults. Or secretly play games.
For a recent college graduate in 2023, their interests may include finding a job, obtaining a platform for survival and development, and finding a partner.
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The above examples are still not extreme enough. Eating and drinking water are interests, but some people choose to starve themselves and prepare for suicide. What interests are these people pursuing? Dictators with high positions and power, controlling a large part of the world, what are they pursuing? Monks who practice in ancient temples, not driven by worldly desires, what interests are they pursuing?
From this, we can try to generalize that everyone's interests are different, including those within the same group and those from different groups. The common ground shared by everyone is a concept. Whether it is a baby sucking on a nipple or a person starving themselves to death, they are guided by a certain concept or thought to accomplish something.
Interests Under Concepts#
In "What I Desire" by Mencius, he wrote, "Life is what I desire; righteousness is also what I desire. The two cannot be obtained at the same time, so one must give up life to pursue righteousness."
Standing Outside of Concepts#
Although Mencius discusses the opposition between interest and righteousness from a moral perspective, if we do not evaluate from a moral point of view, interest and righteousness are actually the same thing. For example, life is a series of actions guided by the concept of life, and righteousness is also a series of actions guided by the concept of righteousness. It's just that the concept of life is more in line with human instincts, while the concept of righteousness requires reasoning to be achieved. Therefore, whether it is a suicide or a monk who eats a vegetarian diet and chants Buddha's name, they are all engaging in activities based on each other's concepts of interest.
Placing Concepts Above Interests: Idealism?#
Objectivism believes that concepts are also an objective existence. When we talk about concepts, it is not just a virtual concept, but includes the material basis of this concept. Stepping back, how concepts are formed is another question. Objectivism does not seek to distinguish who is the origin. As long as it can have an impact on the objective world, it should be included in the discussion of objectivism. As for the size and form of this influence, it is an objective question.
Definition of Interest#
Interest is an abstract term for objective things that can satisfy the needs of a subject under a specific concept.
Interests Under the Same and Different Concepts#
Interest is based on values, and different concepts have different values, so interests are also different.
Under the same concept, the object is considered valuable by the group of individuals who hold this concept, which is the general interest. Taking it a step further, it becomes money. Pursuing different interests under different concepts is considered incomprehensible or foolish, because their judgment criteria are based on their own concepts. In the interest system formed by different concepts, although they all pursue the interests required by their concepts, interest groups based on animalistic concepts will still engage in fierce conflicts after satisfying their necessary interests, while interest groups based on non-animalistic concepts will pursue interests under their own concepts, often without directly conflicting with interest groups based on animalistic concepts, but they may affect the interests of the animalistic concept group.
For example, animalistic desires are the most instinctive desires. Eating, drinking, excreting, and sexual intercourse, etc. Some concepts, after satisfying their needs, pursue other things, such as protecting the environment, developing technology, fishing, square dancing, traveling, playing video games, etc. However, the animalistic concept continues to pursue the satisfaction of animalistic desires after satisfying the necessary needs. It manifests as a monotonous desire for satisfaction. Of course, fishing enthusiasts may buy various fishing rods, but this kind of material consumption generally does not cause social rejection or pathology.
Interests Under Objectivism#
Of course, there is another kind of interest based on objectivism, purely measuring various conflicting interests from an external perspective. Because no matter what concept, when it is applied to society, it always calculates from the perspective of material interests. Whether it is large-scale sterilization or large-scale reproduction, fishing or playing chess, it will have an impact on the entire social system. This kind of interest is another topic.