As an observer of culture, society and trends it is always gratifying to hear where some of these movements originate. As it is written in Ecclesiastes- there is nothing new under the sun and Malcolm Muggeridge reiterated "There is no such thing as new news, it is just old news happening to new people". From Aristotle to John Locke to Ayn Rand- John Robbins traces the historical framework upon which Ayn Rand builds her systematic philosophy. And also convincingly dismantles it!
From Robbins' thoughtful explication of Rand's view of what it means to be a "man" (translated as person-hood in contemporary thought) as delineated by the teachings of Aristotle, and re-affirmed by Locke; we see that the logical consequence of thinking this way has brought us to the position we are in today whereby people are not considered "human" aka "persons" until and unless they are rational beings.
It is, if I'm not mistaken, a logical certainty that having accepted these axioms, people like Peter Singer can, on the basis of the aforesaid- "legitimately" argue for such things as "post-birth" abortions. How anyone cannot see past this oxy-moron is beyond me! Again the words of Muggeridge come to mind, "having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keels over a weary, battered old brontosaurus and becomes extinct.” I believe this was said over 40 years ago.
Why should we be interested in Ayn Rand? Because apparently around 43% of the American public attend some sort of religious service once a week, but, and this is staggering if you think on it; the second most popular book, after the Bible in this same society vote Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged" as their next choice. The problem becomes clearer when we read the title of her most succinct philosophical work: "The Virtue of Selfishness"
NB The video I had here has been pulled by YouTube so I offer instead a critique of Rand and Robbins appraisal of her "Objectivism" here:
Without a Doubt: A Partial Review of John W. Robbins’Without A Prayer. By Richard Bacon.
From Robbins' thoughtful explication of Rand's view of what it means to be a "man" (translated as person-hood in contemporary thought) as delineated by the teachings of Aristotle, and re-affirmed by Locke; we see that the logical consequence of thinking this way has brought us to the position we are in today whereby people are not considered "human" aka "persons" until and unless they are rational beings.
It is, if I'm not mistaken, a logical certainty that having accepted these axioms, people like Peter Singer can, on the basis of the aforesaid- "legitimately" argue for such things as "post-birth" abortions. How anyone cannot see past this oxy-moron is beyond me! Again the words of Muggeridge come to mind, "having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keels over a weary, battered old brontosaurus and becomes extinct.” I believe this was said over 40 years ago.
Why should we be interested in Ayn Rand? Because apparently around 43% of the American public attend some sort of religious service once a week, but, and this is staggering if you think on it; the second most popular book, after the Bible in this same society vote Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged" as their next choice. The problem becomes clearer when we read the title of her most succinct philosophical work: "The Virtue of Selfishness"
NB The video I had here has been pulled by YouTube so I offer instead a critique of Rand and Robbins appraisal of her "Objectivism" here:
Without a Doubt: A Partial Review of John W. Robbins’Without A Prayer. By Richard Bacon.
No comments:
Post a Comment