Any comments on Rand?

[nimble]

I was just wondering how christians respond to Rand's works. Most of her works deal with mysticism in general, but she is obviously an atheist. And she doesnt often come up for discussion. So what do you think of her morality: objectivism, which opposes altruism?

 

[PastorFreud]

I have had rather unpleasant run-ins with Rand's supporters. Her stuff has a tendency, imo, to blame the victim. She places too much on the individual and ignores the power of the system to exert pressure and control. Everything is on the basis of choice, but this is not reality. The power of conformity, roles, and other system dynamics is completely ignored.

I enjoyed this critique: http://rous.redbarn.org/objectivism/Writing/NathanielBranden/BenefitsAndHazards.html

 

[USincognito]

If you want an interesting look into Rand's life, check out the chaper "The Unlikliest Cult of All" in Michael Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things.

 

[seebs]

I think Rand's ideas are pretty much interchangable with Communism; they are developed in such perfect opposition to every possible aspect of Communism that they end up participating in all of the same flaws, if for the opposite reason. "Objectivism" is based in a denial of all that is human, by idealizing exactly those aspects of human existance which Communism tries to deny. It ends up being just as doomed. Philosophically, it mixes the emptiness of straight up materialism with all of the fanatical and unthinking faith one could ask of a cultish religious belief.

This is not to say it is devoid of value; merely that you will have to sort through some stuff. Her basic model of "selfishness" is not as simple or stupid as it may initially look, and might well be better liked if she had chosen different terms. Ultimately, though, it fails most spectacularly on the test every philosophy must face: What will people be like if they adopt it?

 

[Nihilist Comedian]

Communism? That's hilarious. Objectivism: egoism, objective reality, CAPITALISM. Ayn Rand was a very eloquent and talented writer, but as a thinker she was deplorable. She strived for objective thought, but fell into a pit of quite extreme subjectivism and illogical proofs. Her powers of deduction (read "The Voice of Reason") were quite pathetic. She had not an idealistic bone in her body, so it follows that I find a bit of Ayn Rand in every fundamentalist Christian, despite the fact that this whole philosophy (although I'd rather call it a bad dream) is based upon the axiom of atheism.

What will people be like if they adopt it?

This is why nihilism is the greatest philosophy, because we'd all be dead and that makes for a much more moral world.

 

[seebs]

Communism? That's hilarious. Objectivism: egoism, objective reality, CAPITALISM.

Yes, but as is so often the case, the attempt to define yourself entirely in rejection of a thing duplicates the thing more closely than you might expect.

 

[PastorFreud]

Yes, but as is so often the case, the attempt to define yourself entirely in rejection of a thing duplicates the thing more closely than you might expect.

Doesn't Paul talk about becoming the very thing you hate? Some real wisdom in this idea.

 

[nimble]

i think all of you might be a little retarded. But that's just my thoughts. And nihilism, you would have to be the world's biggest moron to believe that. Why the hell are you typing if you dont exist?

 

[elanor]

...Ayn Rand was a very eloquent and talented writer, but as a thinker she was deplorable...

Hmm... I think Ayn Rand was a far better writer in her earlier works. As her philosophy became dogma, her writing became little more than a vehicle to deliver her message. Her characters became caricatures. Fountainhead's Howard Roark at least grew into Rand's ideal; Atlas Shrugged's John Galt sprang full-formed from the pages like some objectivist venus. Maybe being so entrenched in one line of thought shuts out creativity.