Objectivism

[AmericanCommie421]

What are the thoughts of some revleft members on Ayn Rand's work and Objectivist philosophy?

[Drosophila]

Complete shit.

[Deicide]

Utter bollocks. It's delusional elitist nonsense.

I haven't seen a single philosopher that considers Objectivism a legitimate philosophy.

[eric922]

I can tell you this much, I've never had a philopshy teacher even mention it and in her biography of Ayn Rand, Goddess of the Market historian Jennifer Burns says that Ayn Rand's works aren't take seriously in the fields of philosophy or English Literature. If anyone is intersted here is the link to Jon Stewart's interview with Jennifer Burns on the book I mentioned: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-october-15-2009/jennifer-burns

[The Intransigent Faction]

A is A, therefore be a selfish douche...it's a collection of nonsequiturs and/or inconsistencies used to try to justify a system of privatizing everything except, rather conveniently, the military and police. And yet she claims to be against use of force because it undermines use of reason. In short her premises aren't the problem (i.e. reason versus faith), but her conclusions are generally insane.

I've tried to read through "For the New Intellectual" but aside from not having the time, I just couldn't take it seriously. I also (ironically) checked out Atlas Shrugged from the public library out of curiosity once, but again didn't get through it all...nearly 1000 pages.

Just a small sample of other revealingly stupid things:
-She denies the right to protest on public streets (her statements being along the lines of "protest on your own property or family property").
-Her 'solution' for poverty in Africa is capitalism (surprise!),
-She was a Zionist.
-Her attitude toward the disabled (we can't be compelled to support them, etc.).

On the plus side, she is an Atheist, and has a good stance on abortion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTmac2fs5HQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0yUjMklVuI

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

One of the chapters of The Reactionary Mind deals with Ayn Rand and her Philosophy and I think it's a good place to start for criticism. I like to give our competing ideologies a fair shake, but Objectivism legitimately has nothing to offer. A lot of it is just lifted from other, more comprehensible philosophers, and even those parts seem to have been victims of misinterpretation on her part.

I think everyone should read something by her, just to experience the insanity/bad writing but I'm torn between suggesting one of her shorter novels to you or the 100 page long monologue given by John Galt in Atlas Shrugged.

[Lynx]

What is required for a 'philosophy' to be considered legitimate?

[eric922]

What is required for a 'philosophy' to be considered legitimate?
Well I'd suggest adding to humanity's understanding, which Ayn Rand fails to do.

[Rafiq]

It's essentially the embodiment of the weaker-minded Bourgeois structural thought.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Objectivism=fail.

It's like a fancy name for pschyotic individualism. You=everything. Everyone else=shit. Read Atlas Shrugged or watch the movie. It's full of bullshit and pretty much explains objectivism. I watched the movie and it was so full of lies that I could not imagine why anyone would actually release this film to the public. I also read the book and it was even worst.

[Os Cangaceiros]

For some reason her body of thought is lumped in with modern capitalist libertarianism, but I believe her thought to be actually quite authoritarian, the implications of her thought are just as "authoritarian" as the sinister socialism that her followers deride. When some of her contemporaries like Murray Rothbard were openly flirting with the "New Left" student movement, or praising the black power movement like Karl Hess, she was calling for crackdowns on the student movement in California. That's without going into her reprehensible view of, say, native americans or US policy in the middle east.

Don't know anything about objectivism as a philosophy and don't care, because I don't give a shit about philosophy, honestly. Didn't she have a bunch of amusing things to say about the philosophers of antiquity, though? Like, she called Kant a barbarian or something?