Abstract

This paper contrasts the work of Ayn Rand and Alasdair Maclntyre on moral agency. Both argue that moral agency requires the application of a consistent moral code across relationships with others and that such consistency is rarely evident in the modern social order. However, while Maclntyre holds this failure to be a defining feature of the modern social order, Rand holds this to be a failure of individuals and a marker of a wider cultural confusion. While Rand sees selfishness and capitalism as the means to overcome individual and institutional "mixed premises," Maclntyre condemns both.