Final answer:
According to Ayn Rand, if an ethical egoist loved another person, the egoist would be pursuing his or her own interests.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Ayn Rand, if an ethical egoist loved another person, the egoist would be pursuing his or her own interests. Ethical egoism is the view that it is always right to aim at one's own greatest good. This means that an egoist would prioritize their own interests and pursue what they believe will benefit themselves the most. Loving another person does not contradict this philosophy, as long as the egoist believes that their love for the other person serves their own self-interest .Moreover, the idea that an egoist would have to sacrifice his or her own interests to love someone misrepresents Rand’s interpretation of self-interest. According to her perspective, self-interest need not involve self-sacrifice if the relationship benefits the individual's well-being. Lastly, respecting and loving another person can be consistent with ethical egoism if the egoist values the other person as a rational being and sees the relationship as enhancing their own life.