About Objectivism

Objectivist Center ^ | 2/2002

[RJCogburn]

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 as his only absolute. — Ayn Rand, Appendix to Atlas Shrugged

In her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and in nonfiction works such as Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Ayn Rand forged a systematic philosophy of reason and freedom.

Rand was a passionate individualist. She wrote in praise of "the men of unborrowed vision," who live by the judgment of their own minds, willing to stand alone against tradition and popular opinion.

Her philosophy of Objectivism rejects the ethics of self-sacrifice and renunciation. She urged men to hold themselves and their lives as their highest values, and to live by the code of the free individual: self-reliance, integrity, rationality, productive effort.

Objectivism celebrates the power of man's mind, defending reason and science against every form of irrationalism. It provides an intellectual foundation for objective standards of truth and value.

Upholding the use of reason to transform nature and create wealth, Objectivism honors the businessman and the banker, no less than the philosopher and artist, as creators and as benefactors of mankind.

Ayn Rand was a champion of individual rights, which protect the sovereignty of the individual as an end in himself; and of capitalism, which is the only social system that allows people to live together peaceably, by voluntary trade, as independent equals.

Millions of readers have been inspired by the vision of life in Ayn Rand's novels. Scholars are exploring the trails she blazed in philosophy and other fields. Her principled defense of capitalism has drawn new adherents to the cause of economic and political liberty.

[Capitalism2003]

"They do not want to own your fortune, they want you to lose it; they do not want to succeed, they want you to fail; they do not want to live, they want you to die; they desire nothing, they hate existence ..." --Ayn Rand

[Capitalism2003]

"Men have been taught that the highest virtue is not to produce, but to give. But one cannot give that which has not been created. Creation comes before distribution....or there will be nothing to distribute."

"Nothing is given to a man on earth. Everything he needs has to be produced, and here man faces his basic alternative...He can survive in only one of two ways; By the independant work of his own mind, or as a parasite, fed by the minds of others."

[Anamensis]

"They do not want to own your fortune, they want you to lose it; they do not want to succeed, they want you to fail;"

Sounds like our anti-war protestors.

[longshadow]

rational self-interest placemarker

[Capitalism2003]

"Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant, and a fearsom master." --Thomas Jefferson, another great libertarian-minded individual.

[Cultural Jihad]

your argument is based on the foundation of god - there is none ...

Ipse dixit.

[Misterioso]

A person who does not live for himself has no soul.

[Cultural Jihad]

"A person who does not live for himself has no soul." - Adolf Hitler

[Capitalism2003]

"Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God."

--George Washington

[Misterioso]

The IWW? What are you, a communist?

[Anamensis]

I'm definitely not getting why you are even on Free Republic.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[unspun]

I'm saying that there is Person, who created everything and everyhone, including everyone's idea making capacity, and it is only natural that the more one knows Him, the more He adores Him and wishes to be in harmony with Him.

[Capitalism2003]

"We are socialists, we are enemies of today's capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions." --Adolf Hitler
Speech of May 1, 1927.

[unspun]

A person who does not live for himself has no soul.

Eveyone has a soul and everyone should learn to live for what is best for him, regardless of what he may come up with on his own, for his earthly pleasures.

[Anamensis]

What does that have to do with "cult of personality" in general?

[ThinkLikeWaterAndReeds]

objectivism is not a group thing by virtue of its defination - proof of belief is in the practice, be a producer in spite of scoffers - those who hole up and smoke pot are hardly producers - america is becoming more productive, that is the sign that objectivism ideals are working

[Cultural Jihad]

The infant mortality rate actually dropped dramatically with the onset of factory work.

The George Soros Harm Reduction School of Socialism chimes in for the defense of re-legalizing child labor.

[B-Chan]

your argument is based on the foundation of god - there is none...

Please demonstrate the truth of this assertion.

...but you argue well even though you are using mythology as a basis

Thank you. (I don't use mythology as a basis for my arguments, by the way.)

[ThinkLikeWaterAndReeds]

"Objectivists would rob people of their right to decide what kind of a society they are to live in, and that makes them anti-freedom"

read "atlas shrugged" and note galt's valley