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An Introduction to ObjectivismBy the Virginia Tech Objectivist ClubMy philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as aheroic being, with his own happiness as the moralpurpose of his life, with productive achievement as hisnoblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.–Ayn Rand
Who Was Ayn Rand? Born 1905 in St. Petersburg,Russia Opposed communist idealsfrom childhood Kerensky and Bolshevikrevolution Graduated from University ofPetrograd with history andphilosophy degree Studied at State Institute ofCinema page/3/
Who Was Ayn Rand? Rand idolized America Moved to NYC in 1926 Started cinema work 1929 in HollywoodMet future husband, FrankO’ConnorWrote 1st screenplay, “Red Pawn”,in 1932“We the Living” published in 1936“Anthem” ’37“Fountainhead” ’43“Atlas Shrugged” ’57Died March 6, ‘82http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/17
Who Was Ayn Rand? After Atlas Shrugged Rand focused on non-fiction, andlectures on objectivismLeonard Piekoff and theCollectiveThe Collective started theObjectivist MovementPiekoff heads up ARIHad a tough time growing upand succeeding as a writerNever let her environmentcompromise what shewanted to dohttp://godscopybook.blogs.com/gpb/2005/02/ayn rand celebr.html
A Brief Overview of ObjectivismThere are 5branches ofObjectivism Metaphysics Epistemology Ethics Politics ivist1.jpg
Metaphysics: Objective Reality Three Axioms: Existence Identity Corollary: CausalRealism ysics/
Epistemology: Reason Reason: “the faculty thatidentifies and integrates thematerial provided by man'ssenses.” Senses are valid: self-evident Rejection of faith, mysticism The true, the false and thearbitrary Deduction and induction Concept 5/your-brain-on-trading-101/
Ethics: Rational Self Interest Naturalistic Mutualism, not predation Rejection of altruism Duty to neither god nor society Well-being cannot be attainedby article.php
Politics: Laissez-Faire Capitalism Individual rights Limited government Duties: police, courts,military No taxes Gold /196568/Christians Together in/Christian Life/Christians and Politics/Beyond the Election.aspx
Aesthetics: Romantic Realism Art projects concepts aspercepts Romantic realism: thingspresented as they “could” and“should” be Examples: Literature: Dostoyevsky,Cyrano de Bergerac Music: Tchaikovsky,Rachmaninoff, Dvořák Visual art: Michelangelo,Bouguereau Ayn Rand, ndquotes.asp
Misconceptions of Objectivism Advocates selfishness (based onwhims) Dogmatic Rejects Charity Represses Emotion Closed Minded Extremist Pursuit of money by any meanshttp://starshipaurora.com/aynrand.html
An Example on SelfishnessAdam and Bill work at the same steel plant. Theyboth get 250 per day. On the way home, theypass a kiosk accepting donations for CancerResearch. Bill donates 50. Adam, who is savingup for a new sound system, just walks by. Whichperson is being selfish?
An Example on Selfishness Both people are beingselfish- and that’s fine. According toObjectivism, neitherperson is morallysuperior. Selfishness RationalSelf Interest Pursuing the things thatyou value the -girls/
Does Objectivism Forbid Charity? There is a perception thatObjectivists are against charity.This is not true. Private charity is fine. The donoris making a conscious choice togive his/her money to acharitable organization. Publically- Funded charity iswhere there is an issue (Moneytaken by force and spentwithout metaphysicsgifts.html
Bioshock as a Criticism―I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to askyou a question. Is a man not entitled to thesweat of his brow? 'No!' says the man inWashington, 'It belongs to the poor.' 'No!'says the man in the Vatican, 'It belongs toGod.' 'No!' says the man in Moscow, 'Itbelongs to everyone.' I rejected thoseanswers; instead, I chose somethingdifferent. I chose the impossible. I chose.Rapture. A city where the artist would notfear the censor, where the scientist wouldnot be bound by petty morality, Where thegreat would not be constrained by thesmall. And with the sweat of your brow,Rapture can become your city as well.‖
Bioshock as a Criticism Andrew Ryan gets tired of thenotion that others have anyright over what belongs to him. Builds a city underwater basedon Objectivist principals The critique is that Objectivismwould not work because theselfishness of the industrialistsdestroys (“dog-eat-dog” system) Therefore truly more Nietzschethan s-ps3-dlc-priced-laughedat/bioshock-logo/
Objectivism and NietzscheHappiness is not the satisfaction of whatever irrational wishesyou might blindly attempt to indulge .Just as I support mylife, neither by robbery nor alms, but by my own effort, so I donot seek to derive my happiness from the injury or the favor ofothers, but earn it by my own achievement. Just as I do notconsider the pleasure of others as the goal of my life, so I do notconsider my pleasure as the goal of the lives of others.‖—Galt’s Speech, Ayn Rand, For the New Intellectual
Objectivism and Nietzsche Ayn Rand did not align herself with Nietzsche Nietzsche and Rand did both reject altruism andadvocate living for the individual The major difference between the two is thatNietzsche advocated sacrificing others toyourself by following your instincts (thinkMachiavelli) Rand states everything must be based onrational thought—she would never advocatefollowing your whims to an irrational endi.e. murder, lying, and thievery Nihilism vs. Productive Work as Purpose of s.html
Some Similar Philosophers Rand only acknowledged anintellectual debt to Aristotle Liked his ideas on logic andreality (“A is A”) Thomas Aquinas (only in thathe advocated a return to reasonand Aristotle)http://reichchemistry.wikispaces.com/T. Patton Big Time Line Project
Continuing Research In Objectivism Leonard Peikoff: The OminousParallels Leonard Peikoff: Objectivism: ThePhilosophy of Ayn Rand David Harriman: The Logical Leap:Induction in Physics Elan Journo: Winning theUnwinnable War America's SelfCrippled Response to IslamicTotalitarianism John David Lewis: Nothing Less thanVictory: Decisive Wars and theLessons of Historyhttp://www.peikoff.com/lr/home.htm
The Divide within Objectivism Nathaniel and Barbara Branden Confusing reason with “the reasonable”.Irrationalism and mysticism are notsynonyms as Rand implied Reason is a process, reasonable is what agroup may decide arbitrarily. Reasonablevaries throughout history. Repression of emotion The Fountainhead shows the hero withoutemotion, and the villians subject touncontrollable eview/leonhardt.t.html? r 1
The Divide within Objectivism People came to Branden wanting toknow how to rid themselves ofemotion—books are unhealthy The need for an understanding ofpsychological processes, not justphilosophical premises. There is no encouragement ormethod to correct one’s mistakes. “(She should have) encouraged us todevelop a more open-mindedattitude and to be less attached to amodel of reality that might be inneed of revision.”- NathanielBranden
The Divide within Objectivism Ayn Rand Institute Vs. AtlasSociety Closed System (Rand & Peikoff)-can’t alter the core philosophy Open System (David Kelley)-as new ideas emerge, philosophyshould be revised Kelley’s 3 Essential Principles
The Divide within Objectivism A response to Kelley This self-defeating view cannot becalled Objectivism “Agreement with the principles ofObjectivism is the only requirementfor being an ‘Objectivist.’”- RoderickFitts Is Objectivism open to revision? Can it still be consideredObjectivism? Is this a logically sound view /atlasfarted.html
Interested in Learning More? Contact our President, Justin Robey, athokieobjectivism@gmail.com Find us on Facebook under Objectivist Club atVirginia Tech Visit The Ayn Rand Institute at aynrand.org(make sure to check out the essay contests—first prize is 10,000!)
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic realismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism (Ayn me objectivism me objectivism peikoff es essays/benefits and q.html#Q4.4
Ayn Rand did not align herself with Nietzsche Nietzsche and Rand did both reject altruism and advocate living for the individual The major difference between the two is that Nietzsche advocated sacrificing others to yourself by following your instincts (think Machiavelli) Rand states everything must be based on
