A genealogy of ideas worth pondering:
English utilitarians formulate a theory of “enlightened self-interest” as a guide for human and social action.
Inspired by the utilitarians, Chernyshevsky formulates his “rationali egoism,” embodied in his novel What Is To Be Done?
Chernyshevsky in his turn inspired Lenin.
Of course, the transmission of ideas is complicated by all sorts of other factors, but the continuity is noteworthy.
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