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Discussion of Ayn Rand and Objectivism's LiveJournal:
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| Saturday, May 10th, 2008 | 3:37 pm
[aynrandpwns]
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Why Unregulated Capitalism is the Only Moral Social System - Full Lecture
Part 1 of 6:
(Part 6)
(Question 1 of 10 of the Q and A)
| | Saturday, April 19th, 2008 | 6:11 pm
[aynrandpwns]
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The Ayn Rand Institute's Objectivist Academic Center
The Early Admission deadline is April 16, 2008; the Regular Admission deadline is July 30, 2008. | | Sunday, April 13th, 2008 | 9:44 pm
[newedition]
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| | Friday, April 11th, 2008 | 4:52 pm
[newedition]
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| | Monday, March 3rd, 2008 | 3:53 pm
[xhellsfirex]
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Theme: Modeling, Jack Kerouac, Shane MacGowan, Ayn Rand, Hunter S. Thompson, The Dandy Warhols » Do not alter these icons in any way.» If provided, click icon to see original and full-sized image (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) hfimages).» Specify in comment for further information (textures, fonts or methods used on certain icon).» Give credit to hficons if you put any to use.   ( The icons. )I apologize sincerely if this isn't allowed here. I have read the rules, and I figured it applied to: "-Entries linking to articles, websites, services, or products which would be of interest or value to those interested in Ayn Rand's novels and philosophy."
If this is considered off topic or SPAM, let me know, and I will delete it immediately upon notification. Current Mood: accomplishedCurrent Music: Wait For The Blackout; by The Damned | | Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 | 2:34 pm
[cest_lui]
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first book?
Hi. I'm interested in Ayn Rand's ideas, and I got Atlas Shrugged and tried to read it, but I found it too dry and the book so intimidatingly long. I'm wondering if there are any other smaller books or pamphlets which she wrote that explain her philosophy and way of life, that you could reccomend to a busy college student who doesn't have time to read 1000+ pages of a giant novel? :)
Peace and thanks! | | Sunday, February 17th, 2008 | 4:45 am
[kira_speaks]
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What are the Rights of Man?
What are the rights of man? I'll name a few, but there may be more...
---Keep in mind, I'm talking about the inalienable kind of rights. 'Right' is defined as the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled [by virtue of being human]. Further discussion of what constitutes as a 'right' and not simply a desire may be necessary, since I do not believe the concept is still being taught in the public school system. It's a complicated idea because it's so simple. So.---
1: The right to life.
2: The right to liberty. (Liberty consists in the freedom to do all which which does not harm others.)
3: The right to own property.
4: The right to pursue happiness.
5: The right to resist oppression.
I'm curious what additional rights, if any, there are, and if there is any dispute that the ones I have named are in fact rights.
Just for kicks, here's a quote for President's Day.
"The Founding Fathers were neither passive, death-worshipping mystics nor mindless, power-seeking looters; as a political group, they were a phenomenon unprecidented in history; they were thinkers who were also men of action." -AR | | Friday, January 25th, 2008 | 2:43 pm
[russj]
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Howard Jones Lyric--reflects the spirit of Ayn Rand's Sense of Life
| | Tuesday, December 25th, 2007 | 12:22 pm
[ninskigirl]
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A is A.
I have been looking through Aristotle's work (Metaphysics) but i have not seen where he mentioned the LAW OF IDENTITY.
Does anybody know where he discussed the Law of Identity?
Current Mood: awake | | Thursday, December 13th, 2007 | 10:45 pm
[rinku]
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Ron Paul briefly on Alan Greenspan and Ayn Rand. | | Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 | 9:55 pm
[roberts_c]
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Question On Man's Free Choice to Use his own Mind I don't quite understand what this quote means: "A social environment can neither force a man to think nor prevent him from thinking. But a social environment can offer incentives or impediments; it can make the exercise of one's rational faculty easier or harder; it can encourage thinking and penalize evasion or vice versa." - Our Cultural Value-DeprivationMy question with regard to this quote is: DO these impediments and incentives affect or ignite man to make choices? If yes, is it the same to say that these impediments cause man to make choices? Current Mood:  confused | | Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 | 5:33 pm
[rinku]
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newedition posted this video and transcription originally, but I thought it bears repeating here. Interviewer: "...[Most politicians do nothing but drive around in Cadillacs and play golf.] You opted to make a difference in our country. Why was that?" Ron: "Well, for a couple of reasons. One, I believed it was in my self-interest, because I placed the value of liberty above more goods. And I thought it was worthwhile for my kids. So it isn't selfless giving-- it's seen in a bit of self-interest. I also enjoy it because I enjoy discussing ideas. To have meetings and dinners and associations with like-minded people is to me even more fun than playing golf! ... I think it should be fun, and it should be for a purpose, and to me it's been rather easy. A lot of people ask, 'Well how can you do that, how can you stand up against what they're doing in Washington?' As a matter of fact, it would be very difficult for me to do it the other way-- if you said, 'Well, on this occasion we want you re-elected so please bend a litle bit. Be practical here and don't vote this way because it's not that important, it's just one vote.' My make up is such that I wouldn't be able to do that!" I know not all of you guys support him, but you could at least appreciate that quote. | | Friday, October 26th, 2007 | 7:39 pm
[felephant]
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A Defence of Free Will from an Objectivist Viewpoint, and a Response by me. Posted for ninskigirl's benefit. The former was originally posted here, and both were posted almost a year ago. I don't know about the former's stance now (I haven't talked to him since, basically), but my philosophical maturity is qualitatively higher than it was a year ago, so don't necessarily attribute any of it to my current self. ( For )( and against. ) | 11:33 am
[rinku]
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Galt's speech from Atlas Shrugged (part one) -- I like how they used Fred Thompson there! | | Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 | 12:23 am
[aynrandpwns]
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The Undercurrent is taking orders for its upcoming issue Greetings, In case you are unaware of us, I’d like to introduce you to The Undercurrent. The Undercurrent is an Objectivist student publication mainly intended to be distributed on universities campuses to make more students aware of Ayn Rand. Non-students also distribute our paper, and other good places to distribute are coffee shops (some Starbucks have bulletin boards), bookstores (some have areas for free publications), gyms, and other places. For more information, please visit our website, http://the-undercurrent.com/ We are taking orders for our upcoming issue. To order, please go to this link: http://the-undercurrent.com/?s=distribute or visit our site and click “distribute”. Articles in the upcoming issue include: -In Defense of Corporate America -How Not to Lie with Statistics: The Good, the Bad, and the Average -The Business of Healthcare -Operation Iraqi Freedom: An Altruistic War -Faith and Reason: Friends or Foes? -Anti-Smoking Paternalism: A Cancer on American Liberty To read the articles, please go to our site, http://the-undercurrent.com/We will also list your campus club’s or community group’s event or contact info on our calendar. The service is free, just enter information by clicking the "calendar" link on our site, or by clicking http://www.the-undercurrent.com/?s=calendarPlease contact us if you wish to write an article in the future and consider joining our email list. Distributing The Undercurrent is not a major time commitment. All you need to do is take a few minutes once or twice a week to drop off the paper at a campus newsstand or coffee shop. If cost is an issue, let us know and we will work with you to find a sponsor in your area to pay for your copies. Thank you, An Undercurrent Distribution Officer | | Monday, October 22nd, 2007 | 5:12 pm
[ninskigirl]
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Criticizing Objectivist Free will I found this article by Franz Kiekeben entitled Rand on Causation and Free Will
I was wondering if there are other people criticizing the Objectivist position on free will. This article made me really interested in this topic and i want to read more. But i'm seeing articles online that are not so academic (i think) and i don't want to read articles that are not peer reviewed. So i was wondering if you know any articles or books tackling on this topic. thanks. | | Saturday, October 13th, 2007 | 5:15 pm
[rinku]
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| | Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 | 5:09 pm
[writerspleasure] |
today ...
50 years ago, atlas shrugged was published.
happy birthday! | | Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 | 10:14 am
[ragnarpirate]
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Ahmadinejad the laughable islamo-Nazi: free speech works? http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070924225252.klmczhdo&show_article=1When I heard that Ahmadinejad was speaking at Columbia I thought it was very wrong to give him a forum. But, I think that it has back-fired. His evil nature seems to have been exposed. I was disgusted by statements by Columbia that they would have allowed Hitler to speak in 1939. I now wonder whether the world would have acted differently sooner if the general public had a better understanding of Hitler's intentions. (Although he had already pretty much laid it out in his book and speeches). Some of the comments about how well Jews are treated in Iran, his denial of a homosexual community in Iran, and his denial of any wish for aggressive offensive weapons for Iran such as nuclear bombs sound eerily familiar to pre-WW2 Hitler. He is a very scary man and the sooner the world learns, the better. | | Monday, September 10th, 2007 | 7:23 pm
[thales1940]
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More on ordinal/cardinal integration
Rand, in Into to Obj Epist notes three stages of consciousness: sensation, perception and conception. She notes that perceptions are automatically organized, they are not a result of our focus or choice, they are the given. I want to unpack this area of transition from feelings to things which takes place between sensations and perceptions. Perceptually, we see the world as a gestalt, a blend of background, foreground with the content made of 'things'. Sensations know no difference between background and foreground. Sensations are sensations of things undifferentiated. Perceptions reflect an ability to differentiate and are pre-conceptual. Perceptions integrate things based on their differences, not their similarities, something Rand said was impossible to do, (pg 13 second ed IOE,'Incommensurable characteristics cannot be integrated into one unit.' . In mathematics it is the problem of incommensurables which they sort of figured out. All knowledge starts in perception which makes the idea of 'pure knowledge' a misnomer. Rand would call Kant's pure concept a floating abstraction. The idea of pure knowledge is a direct consequence of acceptance of the mind/body dichotomy as demonstrated by the Pythagoreans. They held that what I would call a cardinal number (counting numbers) is both abstract and concrete. They have the right players but instead of integrating perceived numbers with conceived numbers, they made objectivity impossible. Under Kant's rules one is analytic, the other synthetic, result,: a category difference which defies logic. Given the choice of saving or destroying logic and reason, philosophy to now, has fully embraced one side of the mind/body dichotomy or the other. Notice where your bank account falls in this problem. If you are an absolutist reliant on god for your grounding then by that standard god can do anything, logical or not and not break your epistemological rule. God trumps logical contracts and order, order in its widest sense. Objectivity can not be established from a non-objective god. If you take the other side of the dichotomy, after Kant, science and mathematics become grouped in the class of things that can only approach certainty. Bank contracts cannot be guaranteed under this rule. It is only by relating our perceptual feelings to our absolute reasons that mind/body integration can occur. This is philosophy's problem of incommensurables in exactly the same way as mathematics. The solution to both problems is the same.
The answer, relying on mathematics, is to see that ordinal numbers approach infinity while cardinals calculate a teleological scale between our mind and our body making certainty objective. I have noted before, the Kantian Carl Boyer, in his book on the history of the calculus, that cardinal numbers which are certain and exact imply the existence of ordinal numbers which are uncertain and inexact. Ordinal numbers, in turn, imply our perception of reality. A kantian has just integrated a way to relate certainty back to its existential grounding. Since numbers are the easiest abstractions to justify it is clear that the Pythagoreans were confused on the point which reversed the idea of proof as first displayed by Thales.
I want to formalize these concepts of cardinal and ordinal just a bit because Georg Cantor's definitions are mystical and contradictory (the actual infinite). In general we tend to connect ordinal and cardinal to the world of number, This is too narrow. The conceptual common denominator is the attribute of exactness. Rand demonstrates the relation between concept and cardinal number without noting the cardinal aspect. She correctly shows how a concept which has the same degree of certainty as any cardinal number is derived from the perception of the flux in the same way that cardinality is derived from ordinality in math. I define Cardinality as the unity of certainty and existence. Existence is an integrated whole, but we perceive existence piecemeal. The first sign of perception is the noting of differences. Reality is seen from perception as distinct things. Perceived things reflect a difference from the sensations that cause them. Since our perceptions occur without our control, the difference between sensation and percept is that the latter is the consequence of differentiation. And more, we can introspect and determine that there is a dualism consisting of the following: reason/emotion , objectivity/subjectivity, cardinal/ordinal, exactness/inexactness.
This is not finished. |
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