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Who was Ayn Rand?
Ayn Rand was born Alisa Zinovievna Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905 in St. Petersberg, Russia. In 1926 Rand immigrated to America where she made a career of writing and philosophy. With the release of her first best-seller, The Fountainhead, Rand's views gained immense popularity throughout America. Objectivism gained so much interest among young people that it was thought by some that Rand had organized a cult. Ayn Rand answered these claims on several occasions stating:
My philosophy advocates reason, not faith; it requires men to think -- to accept nothing without a full, rational, firsthand understanding and conviction -- to claim nothing without factual evidence and logical proof. A blind follower is precisely what my philosophy condemns and what I reject. Objectivism is not a mystic cult. - Ayn Rand, 1961
Rand married in 1929 to a man named Frank O'Conner. They remained married until his death in 1979. She never had children nor did she ever express the desire. Ayn Rand was also well known for her public affair with one of her fans, Nathaniel Branden. (Branden was also married, and both spouses had knowledge of, and consented to the affair.)
During her career Ayn Rand penned many books, essays, short stories, and screenplays. Some of her better known works include Anthem (1938), her first bestseller The Fountainhead (1943), her second and last bestseller, Atlas Shrugged (1957), and The Virtue of Selfishness (1964). After the wild success of Atlas Shrugged Rand went on to deliver speeches at universities and forums all across America as well as become an editor for a series of periodicals that discussed Objectivist ideas, for which she wrote numerous essays.
Ayn Rand died in 1982 of heart failure in New York City.
A Summary of the Objectivist Philosophy
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason his only absolute. - Ayn Rand
The objectivist philosophy can be summarized in four 'guidelines' given by Rand:
1. Metaphysics: Objective Reality
2. Epistemology: Reason
3. Ethics: Self-Interest
4. Politics: Capitalism
1. Metaphysics: Objective Reality
To begin to understand the objectivism philosophy one has to accept and agree with the statement 'existence exists.' Rand believed this phrase to be self evident in that if one were to argue this point they would be admitting that it must exist because it is being reacted to. Also, Rand believed that existence is the one thing that is absolute and static. Existence is existence. Or, as Rand put it, A is A.
2. Epistemology: Reason
To observe this existence one is given five senses. We rely on these five senses, and only these five senses to guide every decision we make, every action we take, and for survival. It is on this basis that Rand rejected such notions as God, the occult, and mysticism.
3. Ethics: Self-Interest
Rand believed that every man is an end to himself, not the means to the ends of others. This means that to live a fulfilling life, one's own survival and interests must always be first priority and the moral guideline with which one makes their decisions.
4. Politics: Capitalism
Lastly, Rand's ideal government is laissez faire capitilism. In this situation the governments place is only to police and protect the rights of the people. This would mean an entire separation of economics and state where the government would have no hand in policing the interest rates, helping corporations out, or providing welfare to the masses.
It is on these four principals that Ayn Rand layed the groundwork Objectivism. By following these examples, she believed that one could lead a happy and fulfilling life. There are many people who love Objectivism for its idealism, praise of individuality, and freedoms. But does Objectivism hold water as a philosophy?
Some Common Critiques of Objectivism
1. Perspective and logic: A Mismatched Pair
Let's say that fifty people witness a boat sink in the Atlantic Ocean. It is expected that if all fifty people were interviewed afterward and asked to give their opinion, fifty different opinions would come of it. Ayn Rand would say that this is ridiculous. If these people were to follow logic and reasoning by using the guidelines of Objectivism to come to a conclusion about what happened, all opinions should be exactly the same. What Rand neglects to take into account here is perspective. Because everybody would have a different vantage point, memory, and personal experience of the sunken ship, even if they do use logic and reasoning to opine, it is highly unlikely that fifty similiar opinions would be produced.
2. Inviduality and Logic: Another Mismatched Pair.
Ayn Rand was a large supporter of individuality and freedom to express oneself. To be an Objectivist she believed that one must come to their own conclusions about everything, never be a blind follower. But considering the fact that logic and reason are static, how can one who uses logic and reason as a guideline in every decision they make be an individual? This is a large contradiction in Objectivist philosophy.
What it Means to be Selfish
Ayn Rand believed that one should never sacrifice themselves to another, or ask them to do so for them. In other words, a persons' highest moral should be their own self-interest. This works pretty well for your average person. Most people live fairly selfish lives whether they know it or not, and it's perfectly healthy. But Rand seems to reject the idea that some people actually find fullfillment in sacrificing themselves to others. An example would be somebody who gives their life to a soup kitchen for a pittance. In Rand's eyes these people would be wasting their lives and ignoring their own self-interest. Rand seems to be blinding herself to the idea that the mere act of doing something that makes you happy purely for that sake is in fact leading a life in which your self-interest is your highest moral, even if it is indirectly.
Was Rand truly a Philosopher?
Ths philosophic community has no problem with Rand's notion that 'existence exists'. That is not a new thought, and she definitely won't be the last person to use it as a starting point in their philosophy. A problem arises though, because she never asks or tries to understand what this existence is. Is existence the dream of a God? What about an empty easel? Depending on what a person decides makes up this thing called 'existence' can have a lot to do with what they decide life is all about. She also never tackles the notion that our senses might not be worthy of our trust. Who's to say that I'm really typing right now? My senses are telling me so, but in reality I could just as easily be dreaming this up while asleep. Rand seemed to be much more interested in laying down moral guidelines than using a philosophical method understand if her assumptions could be considered correct. It is problems like these that has earned Rand the label of "Pseudo-philosopher."
Conclusion
Objectivism, like any other philosophy, can be interpreted hundreds of different ways. On it's own, it can be a decent way for one to choose to live their life. It celebrates rationality, individuality, and putting oneself first. There is a reason it is very popular with the young and idealistic crowd.
Objectivism's pitfall seems to be apparant when Rand takes it too far. She extends logic into individuality, selfishness into charity, and assumes it all fits together happily when sometimes it doesn't.
Hopefully this article has helped some of you discover what Ayn Rand and Objectivism is about and why she is such an incendiary name in the philosophy community.
Further reading:
The Objectivism Reference Center a place to go to find an array of critiques of Objectivism.
The Ayn Rand Institute run by leading Objectivist scholar, and close friend of Rand's, Leonard Peikoff.
A biographical website on Ayn Rand
A critique of Objectionist Epistemology by Robert Bass
A critique of Objectivism as a philosophy
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