No Need to Justify Careers

To the editors:

Re "Anti-Social Behavior" by Jonathan Jacoby (Opinion, Nov. 4): What is the justification for an individual's existence? The idea of justification appears in various places in Jacoby's op-ed, with millionaires justifying their existence through "corpulent, guilt-ridden" donations to charities, and in his claim that one's "career choice is only valid if you can justify it" to a "Tibetan political prisoner."

Like all altruists, Jacoby claims that one's service to others--one's "socially responsible" career choice--is the justification for one's existence. But this just brings on the next question: Why? Why should I justify myself to anyone? As an individual, I am an end in myself. What is the justification of my existence? I am.

It is my mind that determines my goals and values, and I give my life meaning. I am my sanction, and my purpose is my own rational happiness. If I choose to live my life in service to others, so be it. But if I, the selfish man that I am, want to pursue a career that I actually enjoy, I will not seek anyone's permission, nor acknowledge any demands for justification. I will pursue my own selfish desire without regard to its "socially responsible" character.

If I were to let others dictate what I should hold as my values, goals and purpose and if I made my decisions based on their societal importance, I would have done the one thing both Jacoby and I find repugnant: I would have spent my life canceling myself out. JOSEPH ANDERSON '99   Nov. 4, 1998

The writer is president of the Objectivist Club.