Huge red flags flew when he said virtues can be values. Galt clearly states that virtues are *not* ends within themselves."Virtue is not an end in itself. Virtue is not its own reward or sacrificial fodder for the reward of evil. Life is the reward of virtue-and happiness is the goal and the reward of life." From the beginning of the Virtue of Selfishness: "Value is that which one acts to gain and/or keep - virtue is the act by which one gains and/or keeps it." If virtues can be values, then A is Not A. I don't understand how someone so studied in Objectivism can propagate such a massive error. "To arrive at a contradiction is to confess an error in one’s thinking; to maintain a contradiction is to abdicate one’s mind and to evict oneself from the realm of reality." The young man in the semper-fi cap caught the error, but lacked the ability in the moment to articulate why.
John Gault's speech was really the high point of Atlas Shrugged. It is absolutely essential to understand Ayn Rand's philosophy as well of her critique of the evolution (perhaps devolution) of the world of America.
I like the ideas of Ayn Rand but her values are weird because reason is a faculty, purpose is something one acts to obtain or mantain and selfesteem is a belief of oneself. I think that a better list of values should be Knowledge (obtained by the use of reason), Autonomy (obtained by the use of will), and Success (obtained by the use of oneself: reason and will). Happiness comes when your life ia full of this 3 things. I don't know, still thinking about this. 40:39: I will add proactivity (use of will) and productivity (use of oneself) as parts of the end of human life istelf.
The relationship between Rand's cardinal values and the primary virtues in her philosophy (including Independence) is very well explained in Leonard Peikoff's book on Objectivism. Success is a derivative value. If one is going to name fundamental values they need to be the ones that underlie the others. Reason, in the sense of using the faculty correctly, is as you say yourself, a way (indeed a prerequisite) of gaining other values. Purpose is the root of the organized action which leads to success. Self-esteem is necessary to motivation for action in the world: the knowledge that one is capable and worthy of gaining values in the world. But see the Peikoff book for the full story (or better yet Atlas Shrugged if you haven't yet read it.)
Reason is a value because it has to be used to be maintained and developed and because it aids life. This is the biggest one. Purpose and self-esteem are aspects both of the right use of reason and specifically of reason as volition. You can't use reason unless for some specific purpose (the alternative is to be whimsical about what to do with your mind) and self-esteem is both an aid and a reward for reason.
The problem with knowledge and autonomy is that they are not fundamental and thus universal to all choices. Success is not necessarily a value it depends on the endeavor. If you mean success in a life-serving endeavor, then success means life. That is not exclusive to man.
Considering the choices we had for U.Ss President; A sociopathic narcissist vs a narcissistic sociopath, and I end up voting for the Democrat on the basis of her being less dishonest and less insane and therefore less harmful and dangerous: You KNOW we live in an age of moral crisis, since this fiasco was permitted and engendered by those more sane than the puppets that they offered us to chose from
It is incredibly ironic when, at the beginning, he says that our world is not collapsing - BECAUSE NOW IT IS !!
Huge red flags flew when he said virtues can be values. Galt clearly states that virtues are *not* ends within themselves."Virtue is not an end in itself. Virtue is not its own reward or sacrificial fodder for the reward of evil. Life is the reward of virtue-and happiness is the goal and the reward of life." From the beginning of the Virtue of Selfishness: "Value is that which one acts to gain and/or keep - virtue is the act by which one gains and/or keeps it." If virtues can be values, then A is Not A. I don't understand how someone so studied in Objectivism can propagate such a massive error. "To arrive at a contradiction is to confess an error in one’s thinking; to maintain a contradiction is to abdicate one’s mind and to evict oneself from the realm of reality." The young man in the semper-fi cap caught the error, but lacked the ability in the moment to articulate why.
Part 2 will be published tomorrow Tuesday.
John Gault's speech was really the high point of Atlas Shrugged. It is absolutely essential to understand Ayn Rand's philosophy as well of her critique of the evolution (perhaps devolution) of the world of America.
Ayn Rand is to philosophy like Kenny G is to jazz...
I like the ideas of Ayn Rand but her values are weird because reason is a faculty, purpose is something one acts to obtain or mantain and selfesteem is a belief of oneself.
I think that a better list of values should be Knowledge (obtained by the use of reason), Autonomy (obtained by the use of will), and Success (obtained by the use of oneself: reason and will). Happiness comes when your life ia full of this 3 things.
I don't know, still thinking about this.
40:39: I will add proactivity (use of will) and productivity (use of oneself) as parts of the end of human life istelf.
The relationship between Rand's cardinal values and the primary virtues in her philosophy (including Independence) is very well explained in Leonard Peikoff's book on Objectivism. Success is a derivative value. If one is going to name fundamental values they need to be the ones that underlie the others. Reason, in the sense of using the faculty correctly, is as you say yourself, a way (indeed a prerequisite) of gaining other values. Purpose is the root of the organized action which leads to success. Self-esteem is necessary to motivation for action in the world: the knowledge that one is capable and worthy of gaining values in the world. But see the Peikoff book for the full story (or better yet Atlas Shrugged if you haven't yet read it.)
Reason is a value because it has to be used to be maintained and developed and because it aids life. This is the biggest one. Purpose and self-esteem are aspects both of the right use of reason and specifically of reason as volition. You can't use reason unless for some specific purpose (the alternative is to be whimsical about what to do with your mind) and self-esteem is both an aid and a reward for reason.
The problem with knowledge and autonomy is that they are not fundamental and thus universal to all choices. Success is not necessarily a value it depends on the endeavor. If you mean success in a life-serving endeavor, then success means life. That is not exclusive to man.
interesting topic, poor presenter
Considering the choices we had for U.Ss President; A sociopathic narcissist vs a narcissistic sociopath, and I end up voting for the Democrat on the basis of her being less dishonest and less insane and therefore less harmful and dangerous: You KNOW we live in an age of moral crisis, since this fiasco was permitted and engendered by those more sane than the puppets that they offered us to chose from