Since the function of ethics is to enable us to obtain or keep objective values through our actions, primary ethical judgments should pertain to courses of action rather than to the acting beings. For instance, if we make a mistake, we should seek to correct it and learn from it, rather than mentally punishing ourselves for it. Secondary judgments on the acting individuals are best reserved for the most extreme cases, including criminals and those who advocate destructive policies in an especially willful manner. The egoist concept of justice should be distinguished from that of Judaeo-Christian ethics, which is continually concerned with original sin, mea culpas, and eternal damnation. Traditional morality, as suggested by the "morality mouse" at right, tends to regard human nature as essentially evil (a view implicit in any form of altruism; cf. pp. 3.7:3-4), condemning multitudinous vices and sins. The only so-called "virtue" that receives equal emphasis is one of an entirely negative kind—namely, sexual abstinence or chastity. (Indeed, the term "virtue" is often used as a synonym for chastity, e. g.: "She lost her virtue.") In contrast, the egoistic approach to ethics and justice does not presume individuals to be either good or evil, but stresses their volitional capacity for moral choice. 
