Self-Interest and Enlightenment

'Enlightened Self-Interest' usually connotes the coordination of one's own Good with the general Good, attributable to classical Capitalism, starting with Wealth of Nations, though not to some contemporary versions, e. g. Rand's. However, typically lacking in the advocacy of the concept is an exhaustive analysis of it. One exception is that of Kant's system, which shows that the coordination converts each Individual into an entity equal to every other under a universal law. Accordingly, one's own Self-Interest loses any privileged status in one's conduct. In other words, 'Enlightened Self-Interest', is self-contradictory, a consequence that advocates tend to stop short of recognizing.