[tpaine]

We have evolved a political system of morality and ethics based on the principles of a free private life, liberty under due process of law, and the unfettered pursuit of private property & "happiness".
-- Or at least so our constitutional declarations proclaim.
Rands objectivism embraces those fundamental axioms. - Do you?
282 -tpaine-



Of course.

But I don't claim that those axioms are necessarily objectively true moral values
- truthfully, I don't know or care if they are some integral part of the fabric of the universe.

What I do know is that they are useful in creating a society that advances the human condition. Or, as a certain non-objectivist once said, somewhat more succinctly than Rand ever managed: ----
-gre-



Mills essay has no basic principles at odds with Rands, that I can see.
-- So we are left with the question, - just what is your basic problem with Rand? Why do you, roscoe & the boyos here sneer & ridicule the axioms she supports, -- The same ones you embrace & admit are 'useful'?

[general_re]

just what is your basic problem with Rand?

She's a horrible writer, albeit one with valuable insights into philosophy? That's a start ;)

Why do you, roscoe & the boyos here sneer & ridicule the axioms she supports, -- The same ones you embrace & admit are 'useful'?

The problem isn't the philosophy per se, it's the sales pitch. Objectivism has no special claim to rationality over and above any other system of morality, and yet it purports exactly that - "the only objectively true and rational system of morality", is how it was phrased earlier in the thread, IIRC. But it can't be proven objectively true unless the premises can be proven objectively true, and so that claim is of the same order as it would be about any other system of morality - an unproven assertion, that may or may not be actually true.

I cant speak for others, of course, but my own objective is not to knock objectivism down, and show that it's somehow inferior to other moral systems - I don't believe that to be the case, really. Rather, this is more dealing with claims of exceptionalism than anything else. It's not worse than any other given system as far as I can tell, but neither is it inherently superior.