Excellent review of Ayn Rand's philosophy...

Number of posts: 2159 Registration date: 2007-09-20

...prompted by a recent biography of her. And it reminds one a great deal of FDR and Holy Moly.

Ayn Rand was a Stalinist

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Dylboznia

Number of posts: 12 Registration date: 2009-08-25

Is there a term used for the tactic of calling someone something they strongly oppose?
Ex: "you are the one who is really religous", "It is you who are the Nazi, and here is why....", "You are the real socialist..."

Can it be done with almost anyone at anytime?

Number of posts: 2159 Registration date: 2007-09-20

I dunno, but the thing is, this is a truly great article, so don't let my link title (actually taken from LRC) throw you off. Maybe I should change it if it's gonna prevent click-thrus. Thoughts?

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Dylboznia

Number of posts: 12 Registration date: 2009-08-25

Well worth the read. It is interesting to think of rand in a russian context. Not, that I usually think about her at all, but to think of her as russian almost makes me want to pick up a book of hers and read it.

But than again, someone calling Haydn "pre-music" is someone who's aesthetic should not be trusted especially if they are writing LONG novels.

Number of posts: 13 Registration date: 2010-01-31

If you want become an objectivist literary critic, read Rand's guide to writing fiction. You'll get a few chuckles out of it. She critiques a bunch of authors like Leo Tolstoy, James Joyce and Thomas Wolfe. She raves and rants about how they suck, and she claims she's the best there is except for maybe Victor Hugo. That's the only author that gets off the hook. She even says she doesn't like Dostoevksy's characters.

Number of posts: 12 Registration date: 2009-08-25

Wow, if that's the case it sounds like a gangsta rap thing of dissin all the big boys while hyping yourself up. Now I want to read her again...Now in the terms of a russian gangsta rap artist dissin' Stravinsky, Tolstoy and D-stove and if I am lucky Biggie Smalls while wearing a giant gold dollar sign necklace awww yeah.

Ayn rand representing the second world beotches! F**** the West Side!

Number of posts: 594 Location: England Registration date: 2008-08-26

Dylboz wrote:

...prompted by a recent biography of her. And it reminds one a great deal of FDR and Holy Moly.

This part of the Ayn Rand biography certainly reminded me of Stef, particularly his long-winded rants:

Quote:

Though in theory a defender of freedom of thought and action, she was dogmatic, inflexible, and intolerant, not only in opinion but in behavior, and it led her to personal cruelty. In the name of her ideas, she was prepared to be deeply unpleasant. She hardened her ideas into
ideology. Her integrity led to a lack of self-criticism; she frequently
wrote twenty thousand words where one would do.

Number of posts: 138 Location: Australia Registration date: 2009-07-17

http://www.michaelprescott.net/hickman.htm

Quote:

It seems to me that Ayn Rand's uncritical admiration of a personality this twisted does not speak particularly well for her ability to judge and evaluate the heroic qualities in people. One might go so far as to say that anyone who sees William Edward Hickman as the epitome of a "real man" has some serious issues to work on, and perhaps should be less concerned with trying to convert the world to her point of view than in trying to repair her own damaged psyche. One might also point out that a person who "has no organ for understanding ... the necessity, meaning, or importance of other people" is what we today would call a sociopath.

Was Rand's ideal man a sociopath? The suggestion seems shockingly unfair - until you read her very own words.

Number of posts: 281 Registration date: 2008-12-04

It was a good review overall, though I have a few minor quibbles. Namely, that I don't agree with her heroes being so awful, John Galt and Roark are certainly people I would be interested to meet.

There were a few especially disgusting things he brought up that I didn't know about her. I knew about her unfaithfulness to O'Connor, but how she dealt with his dementia... pale

Overall, really good though. On the same page I found this which is worth reading.

Number of posts: 594 Location: England Registration date: 2008-08-26

Ayn Rand is being discussed on FDR at the moment. Ash has challenged Stef and others, much to their annoyance. Due to his university course, he has realised the poor standard of FDR discussion of logic:
http://hiderefer.com/?http://freedomainradio.com/BOARD/forums/t/24787.aspx

Number of posts: 842 Registration date: 2008-03-25

Patience wrote:

Ayn Rand is being discussed on FDR at the moment. Ash has challenged Stef and others, much to their annoyance. Due to his university course, he has realised the poor standard of FDR discussion of logic:
http://hiderefer.com/?http://freedomainradio.com/BOARD/forums/t/24787.aspx

Interesting. He was certainly engaged in the earlier RTR discussion, although he had trouble committing. Now here he goes again. Will he be the next Allison, I wonder?

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Number of posts: 514 Registration date: 2010-01-28

ash wrote:

More directly I think this topic (logic at fdr) matters to me because in all honesty I think it could be at a much higher standard.

So impressed to see that written down. You go, Ash! It might be nit-picking to be having this discussion on a forum about, I don't know, scuba diving, but given that it's taking place on a site that claims to make use of logic and whose members espouse the virtues of logic, this should be something they're open to discussing. I don't think they can even take the "I only care about logic in matters that are actually important" route, because they were happily engaged in the discussion before he came along, indicating that it does have some level of importance to them.

I wonder if anyone will address it, or if it will be ignored (which would be amusing given the current topic of conversation, and which I hope he wouldn't let go).

Updates:

MartinB dives in!

MartinB wrote:

I just finished a 4h programming session, which is all about nitpicking, because otherwise the programm just doesnt work. One misplaced ";" and it all goes up in flames.

I think there is a time and place to pick nits, and there are others. When it as about logic, and drawing conclusions i think it is very reasonable to make sure both are correct. So i dont see why someone would complain about nitpicking. If i make logical statements i want them judged by the highest standards, and if that means having someone point out flaws inconsistencies, or just a tiny piece of not-so-great Argument i am happy to learn how to do it better.

Thanks for raising interesting questions!

Nathan goes for the ol':

Nathan wrote:

I would also add that I have felt annoyed when reading your posts. I had thoughts as to why but I'll just go with my feelings.

Is he saying that feelings trump logic? If so, does this not throw a good half of the FDR ideology out the window? I thought the entire point of paying attention to the feelings was to get at the thoughts behind them (I may make a post expanding on this later). Things are unravelling by the minute!

Update 2:
He's softened his stance a bit, now:

Nathan wrote:

I would also add that I have felt annoyed when reading your posts. I had thoughts as to why but I'll just go with my feelings. I'm not saying it's you, maybe it's me.

Number of posts: 628 Registration date: 2009-02-09

Bravo Ash in having the courage to stand up for your convictions, regardless of the response. That is true virtue.

cheers

Number of posts: 842 Registration date: 2008-03-25

Patience wrote:

Due to his university course, he has realised the poor standard of FDR discussion of logic

Don't forget that any logic you learn at University is tainted by cronyism. (I believe that is the idea behind Molyneux's dismissal of academia in general). It isn't anything like the pure and unfettered logic one learns at FDR.

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Number of posts: 842 Registration date: 2008-03-25

Argent wrote:

Nathan goes for the ol':

Nathan wrote:

I would also add that I have felt annoyed when reading your posts. I had thoughts as to why but I'll just go with my feelings.

Is he saying that feelings trump logic? If so, does this not throw a good half of the FDR ideology out the window? I thought the entire point of paying attention to the feelings was to get at the thoughts behind them (I may make a post expanding on this later). Things are unravelling by the minute!

Nathan seems to be playing that card a lot lately. I wonder if the expansion of the tight little FDR community into the new bigger-tent version is causing him anxiety. (It should, IMO.)

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Excellent review of Ayn Rand's philosophy...

Excellent review of Ayn Rand's philosophy...

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