A collection of thirty-two essays on philosophy, culture and politics containing some of Ayn Rand’s most trenchant commentary on such issues as religion, objectivity, sex, abortion, foreign policy and the mixed economy. login, A link to it appears in “Related Lessons” below. Basically, if you think positively, positive things will come your way - at least they're more likely to, anyway. Objectivism also rejects the idea that man has no nature at all (i.e., the twisted, modern interpretation of man as a “blank slate”), making his character the consequence of social forces, such as upbringing or economic conditions. Just as the sun does not revolve around the earth (regardless of what one believes), so too a person cannot achieve happiness by sacrificing other people (regardless of what he claims). — and how the answers to these questions give rise to an ethics of rational self-interest. Objectivists are not “liberals,” but absolutists for freedom. The name “Objectivism” derives from the idea that human knowledge and values are objective: they exist and are determined by the nature of reality, t… This is what most altruists do. Short Introduction to Philosophy and Objectivism Objectivism is the philosophy developed by the author/philosopher Ayn Rand and dramatized in her novels, such as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Whatever an individual’s choice, however, the fact remains that man is the rational animal; reason is his only means of knowledge and therefore his basic means of survival. “Man is an end in himself.” 4. Reality is not to be rewritten or escaped, but, solemnly and proudly, faced." Politically, Objectivism advocates pure, laissez-faire capitalism—the social system of individual rights and strictly limited government—along with the whole moral and philosophical structure on which it depends. Faith is faith (i.e., the acceptance of ideas in the absence of evidence); it leads to baseless beliefs; it cannot provide knowledge. I’m director of education at OSI, and I’m writing to ask for your support in … For the sake of example here, let us isolate a particular aspect of a work of art: its subject matter. Objectivism holds that there is no greater moral goal than achieving one's happiness. Ontology is the study of what it means to exist. Because the guiding social principle in such a society is that of trade—and because there is no “public” funding of the arts—artists who produce works that rational people value tend to thrive; those who produce works that rational people do not value tend to find other professions. The main ideas of objectivism are: 1. [1] Leonard Peikoff, a professional philosopher and Rand’s designated intellectual heir, [2] [3] later gave it a more formal structure. Moral objectivism. Thus, if man’s life is the standard of moral value, capitalism is the only moral social system. Moreover, neither I nor anyone else­—other than Rand—can speak for Objectivism; the philosophy is precisely the body of philosophical principles set forth in her works. Insofar as a person acts against the requirements of his life and happiness, he will not make the most of his life; he will not achieve the kind of happiness possible to man. Happiness is the state of mind that follows from the successful pursuit of rational, life-serving values. The destroyer is the morality of altruism. Rand also examines the moral principle of altruism and the threat it poses to America’s founding principles. Discover how this normally dry subject is transformed into an engrossing epistemological field of study. Reality is not created or controlled by consciousness. Objectivists are not conservatives, but, as Rand put it, “radicals for capitalism” (i.e., advocates of its root or foundation). All sessions are recorded, so if you miss a session (or want to … Evidence-free assertions, appeals to tradition, and appeals to authority are not rational arguments; they are textbook logical fallacies. Objectivism holds that art is a requirement of human life and happiness. The standard of value according to altruism is self-sacrifice. Condition is "Used". Ayn Rand held that, far from being a useless diversion, philosophy was critically important in human life: Every human action presupposes certain philosophical beliefs. This is why rational parents encourage their children to think before they act, to recognize that choices have consequences beyond the immediate moment, to learn and embrace the long-range requirements of human life and happiness. Predation (the sacrificing of others for one’s own alleged benefit) is no more in one’s best interest than is altruism. Thomas Aquina's, objectivism and absolutism. This item will ship to United States, but … All else being equal (style, composition, technique, etc. Copyright © 1985 – 2021 The Ayn Rand® Institute (ARI). Egoism upholds the principle of non-sacrifice—the idea that one should never surrender a greater value for the sake of a lesser value. In order to have a better idea of the subject at hand, it is best to begin with the following: what is reality? Payments to OCON or the Ayn Rand Institute eStore do not qualify as tax-deductible contributions to the Ayn Rand Institute. And because human beings are individuals, each with his own body, his own mind, his own life, this standard pertains to human beings as individuals (not as cogs in a utilitarian collective). This principle is the recognition of the fact that in order to live, people must take self-interested action and reap the benefits thereof. Similarly, a soldier who fights for freedom on the grounds that life without liberty is not worth living (“Give me liberty, or give me death!”) is being moral; one who fights in obedience to an alleged “supernatural” being’s commands is not. But to hold them with total consistency — to understand, to define, to prove, and to apply them — requires volumes of thought. ARI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For a book-length nonfiction presentation of the principles of Objectivism, see Leonard Peikoff’s Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. And Objectivism rejects hedonism—the idea that being moral consists in acting in whatever manner gives one pleasure (or doing whatever one feels like doing). I did, as follows: If you want this translated into simple language, it would read: 1. (This is not to say that everyone who calls himself a libertarian is anti-intellectual; rather, it is to say that any attempt to defend liberty while ignoring or denying its intellectual foundations is anti-intellectual.). Ayn Rand answered these questions in her address to the senior class of the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1974. A dictatorship is a dictatorship; it destroys life; it cannot promote life. In a capitalist society, individual rights cannot legally be violated by anyone—including the government. Egoism is the morality of non-sacrifice; it rejects all forms of human sacrifice—both self-sacrifice and the sacrifice of others—as a matter of principle. To live, people must pursue values, not give them up. Contributions to ARI in the United States are tax-exempt to the extent provided by law. Great work and I will be reading more of Branden. Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist’s deepest, most fundamental convictions—such as his views of the nature of the universe, the nature of man, what is knowable, what matters most, what is possible. Human knowledge—all human knowledge—is a product of perceptual observation and logical inference therefrom. I liked the insight Branden gives into Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead among others. But one cannot achieve happiness by wish or whim. Rand presented her philosophy in her many fiction and nonfiction books, such as The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, Philosophy: Who Needs It, The Virtue of Selfishness, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, and The Romantic Manifesto. In the winter and spring of 1958, I gave the first course of lectures entitled “The Basic Principles of Objectivism” which, although I did not fully realize it at the time, was to launch the Objectivist movement. If an individual chooses to face facts, to think rationally, to be productive, and so on—and thereby develops a good character—that is his achievement. Ayn Rand® is a registered trademark and is used by permission. The standard of value according to Objectivism and rational egoism is the requirements of man’s life. A rose is a rose; it can bloom; it cannot speak. It is only by means of principles that one can set one’s long-range goals and evaluate the concrete alternatives of any given moment. Capitalism and altruism are incompatible; they cannot coexist in the same man or in the same society. If people want to live and be happy, only one of these moralities will do. But has anyone here read the book? Neither paint randomly splattered on a canvas, nor a bicycle wheel “cleverly” fastened to a stool, nor a word salad neatly printed on a page is art. Capitalism was the system originated in the United States. Altruism cannot be practiced consistently. Objectivism equally rejects skepticism—the idea that knowledge is impossible, that it cannot be acquired by any means. Existence just exists—and everything in it is something specific; everything is what it is and can act only in accordance with its identity. A person does not have to use reason; the choice is his to make. The politics of freedom is the politics of self-interest; it cannot be defended with the ethics of self-sacrifice—or with a philosophy of unreason, unreality, or “super-nature”—or with no philosophy at all. Objectivism equally opposes the politics of so-called liberalism—such as the notion that people have a “right” to be given goods or services (which obviously requires that someone be forced to provide them); the notion that government agencies, private businesses, and schools should be required to implement racist policies, such as “affirmative action” and “diversity training”; the notion that students in government-run schools should be indoctrinated with the relativism known as “multiculturalism” or the religion known as “environmentalism”; the notion that people should be forced to fund ideas or art of which they disapprove (e.g., via “public” radio or “public” grants); and the notion that America has no right to “interfere with” or “impose Western values on” (let alone destroy) regimes that are responsible for the slaughter of Americans. The only thing that can stop him from doing so is other people, and the only way they can stop him is by means of physical force. Rand held that all people, whether they realize it or not, are guided in their thoughts and actions by philosophical principles and assumptions. There are objective universal moral principles valid for all people and all social environments. Some cultures maintain that the earth is flat, that slavery is good, and that women are mentally inferior to men. Of course, life requires that people regularly forgo lesser values for the sake of greater ones; however, these are gains, not sacrifices. Ayn Rand created and defined her philosophy, Objectivism, in the pages of her best-selling novels, particularly, What is morality? This is what Jesus did. The distinction between applied and theoretical objectivism is not Ayn Rand's. Short Introduction to Philosophy and Objectivism Objectivism is the philosophy developed by the author/philosopher Ayn Rand and dramatized in her novels, such as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. What we call applied objectivism was, for Ayn Rand, simply the objective application of objectivist ethical and political principles. Perhaps the best-known and most-controversial aspect of objectivism is its account of the moral virtues, in particular its unconventional claim that selfishness is a virtue and altruism a vice. If he gives up a value for no gain whatsoever, he is being moral; if he gains something from an action, he is not being moral. Basic Principles of Objectivism by Nathaniel Branden Lecture 10: Reason and Virtue To exist is to be something, to possess a specific identity. If he gives his values away for no gain whatsoever (neither material nor spiritual), he is thereby being immoral; he is relinquishing values on which his life and happiness depend. Justice VS Mercy. Although there is plenty of room for different tastes within the range of genuine art, there are also within that range objectively better and worse works of art—better and worse by the standards of rationality and man’s spiritual needs. This is yet another reason to embrace and advocate capitalism—and the entire philosophy of reason on which it is based. Obj… If he produces values and trades them with others for a profit (whether material or spiritual), he is thereby being moral; he is gaining values on which his life and happiness depend.