Posted on 04/22/2003 5:25:25 PM PDT by RJCogburn
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute. — Ayn Rand, Appendix to Atlas Shrugged
In her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and in nonfiction works such as Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Ayn Rand forged a systematic philosophy of reason and freedom.
Rand was a passionate individualist. She wrote in praise of "the men of unborrowed vision," who live by the judgment of their own minds, willing to stand alone against tradition and popular opinion.
Her philosophy of Objectivism rejects the ethics of self-sacrifice and renunciation. She urged men to hold themselves and their lives as their highest values, and to live by the code of the free individual: self-reliance, integrity, rationality, productive effort.
Objectivism celebrates the power of man's mind, defending reason and science against every form of irrationalism. It provides an intellectual foundation for objective standards of truth and value.
Upholding the use of reason to transform nature and create wealth, Objectivism honors the businessman and the banker, no less than the philosopher and artist, as creators and as benefactors of mankind.
Ayn Rand was a champion of individual rights, which protect the sovereignty of the individual as an end in himself; and of capitalism, which is the only social system that allows people to live together peaceably, by voluntary trade, as independent equals.
Millions of readers have been inspired by the vision of life in Ayn Rand's novels. Scholars are exploring the trails she blazed in philosophy and other fields. Her principled defense of capitalism has drawn new adherents to the cause of economic and political liberty.
When you accept the ultimate personality, it explains why such a thing as a "cult of personality" exists (and why it is the only successful kind of cult).
-- "a certain type of suburban nerd"
-- "the kind of kid who thinks he's a Heroic Loner, because none of the cheerleaders will date him"
-- "Kids like this whom I've known tended to spend a lot of time in their rooms smoking pot and reading too much into prog-rock lyrics."
Are looking into a:
-- Mirror mirror on the wall, can B-chan be the loveliest projectionist of them all?
Not guilty, your honor. I was reasonably popular in high school, dated quite a bit (several cheerleaders, too), and didn't really get into smoking pot until I was in college (I've always preferred good old-fashioned liquor to the various other intoxicants). I admit to liking Rush for a brief time during my skool daze, but I soon grew out of my fascination with Randian prog-rock, and was in fact well-known around town as the resident punk rocker. I admit to being a hopeless Trekkie in the days of my youth, but Rand? I read her. It didn't "take".
I'd like to live in a libertarian society composed of Calvinists.
Will you agree, or attempt to rob me of my right to decide what kind of society to live in?
I think it should, if you read it objectively, without reading anything into the words (using "cult" here as in its basic root meaning, a group of people who worship together/similarly).
Well, just for the record, I am an admirer of von Mises, as well as Rand.
There's nothing wrong with a pragmatic indictment of Communism, per se. The trouble is that the pragmatic argument fails if they manage to hold things together (Mainland China comes to mind). Rand, OTOH, provides a powerful moral argument against Communism (or any form of totalitarianism) that is immune to the vulnerabilities of the pragmatic argument.
On balance, I think there's a great deal we can learn from both Rand AND von Mises.
Trash Rand all you want ... but trash Rush, now you've gone way too far!
Sic transit gloria mundi.
In my limited experience, using Latin phrases in a post tends to appeal to a certain type of suburban blowhard -- the kind of person who honestly believes he dated cheerleaders and was really cool.
I quote you, (again), "she rejected the collective (the concept that the group is more important than the individual)".
You are wrong because Rand did not consider the group to have any importance at all. There is no question in Objectivism of which is more importat, the individual or the group. With regard to the concept importance, a group is irrelevant, unless an individual has some personal goal or objective with regard to a group (is forming a football team, for example), and then the importance of the group is derived entirely from the intentions and purposes of the individual.
Hank
It's always interesting to meet someone whose intellectual curiosity is so easily sated....
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