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Originally Posted by enevitable  Alright I'm back from eating so I'll respond now.
Personally I've read Atlas Shurgged, Anthem, and Fountainhead, and honestly the only one I could stand out of the three was The Fountainhead.
First off, Objectivism is an incredibly selfish ethical viewpoint. It takes any and all value away from utilitarianism and turns it into nothing more then a self furthering process. However, that isn't to say that some of the views of objectivism aren't valid, it just isn't a very good ethical theory on which to decide one's actions.
Another problem with Rand, is that she insinuates that all man thinks this way. This is not true, a lot of mankind doesn't think about themselves first, they think about the others around them when making ethical decisions.
I wish I could give a better argument for you, but truth is I'm sick and I need to pass out for a while. I'm sure that someone else can carry on a much more coherent discussion with you, In the mean time, have you read Roy Child's letter to Rand? ( http://isil.org/ayn-rand/childs-open-letter.html) |
Thanks for the more in depth reply, I appreciate it. I don't think Ayn Rand insinuates that all man thinks this way, rather the opposite. Her letter at the beginning of my copy of The Fountainhead shows she doesn't. Rather she claims all men
ought to think this way, and the reason she wrote these books was to show men how they
ought to act. Objectivism is just her life philosophy that she wishes or thinks everyone ought to follow.
I do struggle with the idea that men should be so self dependent though. In her ideas of the ego, it's kinda saying to all out reject society and be your own one-man universe. With Howard Roark in
The Fountainhead he cannot collaborate with others and rejects any collaborative product as bad. I'm a big computer nerd, and have been an avid supporter of OSS such as Linux, Open Office, etc. These programs show what the collaborative process can produce and how beneficial it can be - and objectivism says this is bad? That's where I don't agree with Objectivism.