Ayn Rand said that the theme of The Fountainhead is "individualism versus collectivism, not in politics, but in man's soul." I want to comment on three specific aspects of this theme, as it is embodied in Roark's character and his interactions with the other figures in the novel... Roark is a man of independence, he is an egoist, and he is a creator, a paragon of productive achievement. These three concepts—independence, egoism, and achievement—are the key to understanding the moral sense of The Fountainhead and the ways in which it differs from the conventional ethos. ...Rand makes it clear from the outset that independence does not consist in nonconformity. Henry Cameron says to Roark, "I wouldn't care, if you were an exhibitionist who's being different as a stunt, as a lark, just to attract attention to himself. It's a smart racket, to oppose the crowd and amuse it and collect admission to the sideshow." Later on, we meet a number of artists, protégés of Toohey, who are engaged in precisely that kind of racket; the writer who did not use capital letters, the painter who "used no canvas, but did something with bird cages and metronomes," and the like. When Toohey's friends ask him how he can support such rabid individualists, he smiles blandly. He knows that these "iconoclasts" are merely playing off conventions, for the sake of shock value; they are just as dependent on others as the most abject conformist. And most of them, like the writer Lois Cook, have a smirking kind of awareness that they are getting away with something, foisting trash on a credulous public. (I sometimes think that Andy Warhol got his ideas from these passages of The Fountainhead .)
In order to live, man must act; in order to act, he must make choices; in order to make choices, he must define a code of values; in order..
Most major religions have believed in the existence of a supernatural realm, a realm beyond the natural world of physical objects and bodies
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive
Question: I am not a socialist, but I have a question on the nature of socialism. How does nationalization take place in non-communist European countries? I heard it was through purchasing the company. How is this a violation of property rights if your company is being purchased? Answer: The right of property is a right of action: the right to pursue the material benefits one needs to live and flourish, and the absolute right of possession once these have been secured. So, property rights include the freedom to use or voluntarily trade away one’s possessions as one sees fit, including the right not to give up or sell one’s property at any price. It is a violation of this right to conduct a transaction on the basis of force—as opposed to voluntary trade—even if some monetary compensation is paid in an attempt to excuse what is, at root, an act of robbery.
Question: What is the Objective position on www.fairtax.org? Answer: The Atlas Society does not focus primarily on political policy, and we do not have any position on the organization you mention. In politics, we favor a radical downsizing and simplification of the functions of government at all levels. We advocate a government strictly limited to its functions in providing and enforcing law and providing national defense, and hope for a government that is restricted to upholding individual rights.
Ayn Rand is best known for her novels, which continue to sell hundreds of thousands of copies each year, and for her philosophical essays on
In the last lecture, we looked at those arguments that won the debate for free speech. Historically, those arguments were nested in
Nationalism is the doctrine that a unitary cultural and political entity, the nation, should be the organizing principle of society....
Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand ’s magnum opus. It is the culmination of her quest to portray an ideal man, and the first full expression of ...
The Fountainhead, Rand's first commercial success, is the story of Howard Roark, the brilliant architect who insists on the right to pursue
The Atlas Society (formerly known as The Objectivist Center) works with students to spread the revolutionary ideas of......
Ayn Rand. Her name is a kind of psychological litmus test; it inevitably provokes violent reactions of either fierce admiration or
Both as a thinker and as an artist, Ayn Rand swam against the tide. As a philosopher, she was an uncompromising champion of reason....
In Tokyo, 94% of women in their 20s own a Louis Vuitton bag. Hong Kong boasts more Gucci and Hermes stores than Paris. China’s passion for l
In its efforts to supervise Nebraska cattle producers' obedience to the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency is literally...
Begin with the title. An “outlier,” in statistics, is an observation so far outside the general range of one’s data as to indicate a possibl
Near the beginning of the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy is challenged to a knife fight by another member of his Ho
Liberals have given conservatives much grief over the years for advocating an abstinence-only approach to sex education. “Kids are going....
Many Leftist commentators are getting riled up about a report that BP’s damages in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are limited to $75 million. Here is Matthew L. Wald, writing yesterday at “Green,” the NYT’s Energy and Environment blog: "A 1990 law, the Oil Pollution Act [OPA], limits claims by fishermen, hotel owners and others against the operator of an offshore platform causing such pollution to $75 million." That is so misleading as to be false. BP is in Deep Something, and it isn’t Deep Water. Since the explosion occurred on April 20, the company’s stock has lost a quarter of its value, and no wonder. Analyst Greg Smith told Bloomberg that the ultimate cost to the company may be $10 billion.
Ayn Rand said that the theme of The Fountainhead is "individualism versus collectivism, not in politics, but in man's soul." I want to comment on three specific aspects of this theme, as it is embodied in Roark's character and his interactions with the other figures in the novel... Roark is a man of independence, he is an egoist, and he is a creator, a paragon of productive achievement. These three concepts—independence, egoism, and achievement—are the key to understanding the moral sense of The Fountainhead and the ways in which it differs from the conventional ethos. ...Rand makes it clear from the outset that independence does not consist in nonconformity. Henry Cameron says to Roark, "I wouldn't care, if you were an exhibitionist who's being different as a stunt, as a lark, just to attract attention to himself. It's a smart racket, to oppose the crowd and amuse it and collect admission to the sideshow." Later on, we meet a number of artists, protégés of Toohey, who are engaged in precisely that kind of racket; the writer who did not use capital letters, the painter who "used no canvas, but did something with bird cages and metronomes," and the like. When Toohey's friends ask him how he can support such rabid individualists, he smiles blandly. He knows that these "iconoclasts" are merely playing off conventions, for the sake of shock value; they are just as dependent on others as the most abject conformist. And most of them, like the writer Lois Cook, have a smirking kind of awareness that they are getting away with something, foisting trash on a credulous public. (I sometimes think that Andy Warhol got his ideas from these passages of The Fountainhead .)
In order to live, man must act; in order to act, he must make choices; in order to make choices, he must define a code of values; in order..
Most major religions have believed in the existence of a supernatural realm, a realm beyond the natural world of physical objects and bodies
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive
Question: I am not a socialist, but I have a question on the nature of socialism. How does nationalization take place in non-communist European countries? I heard it was through purchasing the company. How is this a violation of property rights if your company is being purchased? Answer: The right of property is a right of action: the right to pursue the material benefits one needs to live and flourish, and the absolute right of possession once these have been secured. So, property rights include the freedom to use or voluntarily trade away one’s possessions as one sees fit, including the right not to give up or sell one’s property at any price. It is a violation of this right to conduct a transaction on the basis of force—as opposed to voluntary trade—even if some monetary compensation is paid in an attempt to excuse what is, at root, an act of robbery.
Question: What is the Objective position on www.fairtax.org? Answer: The Atlas Society does not focus primarily on political policy, and we do not have any position on the organization you mention. In politics, we favor a radical downsizing and simplification of the functions of government at all levels. We advocate a government strictly limited to its functions in providing and enforcing law and providing national defense, and hope for a government that is restricted to upholding individual rights.
Ayn Rand is best known for her novels, which continue to sell hundreds of thousands of copies each year, and for her philosophical essays on
In the last lecture, we looked at those arguments that won the debate for free speech. Historically, those arguments were nested in
Nationalism is the doctrine that a unitary cultural and political entity, the nation, should be the organizing principle of society....
Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand ’s magnum opus. It is the culmination of her quest to portray an ideal man, and the first full expression of ...
The Fountainhead, Rand's first commercial success, is the story of Howard Roark, the brilliant architect who insists on the right to pursue
The Atlas Society (formerly known as The Objectivist Center) works with students to spread the revolutionary ideas of......
Ayn Rand. Her name is a kind of psychological litmus test; it inevitably provokes violent reactions of either fierce admiration or
Both as a thinker and as an artist, Ayn Rand swam against the tide. As a philosopher, she was an uncompromising champion of reason....
In Tokyo, 94% of women in their 20s own a Louis Vuitton bag. Hong Kong boasts more Gucci and Hermes stores than Paris. China’s passion for l
In its efforts to supervise Nebraska cattle producers' obedience to the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency is literally...
Begin with the title. An “outlier,” in statistics, is an observation so far outside the general range of one’s data as to indicate a possibl
Near the beginning of the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy is challenged to a knife fight by another member of his Ho
Liberals have given conservatives much grief over the years for advocating an abstinence-only approach to sex education. “Kids are going....
Many Leftist commentators are getting riled up about a report that BP’s damages in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are limited to $75 million. Here is Matthew L. Wald, writing yesterday at “Green,” the NYT’s Energy and Environment blog: "A 1990 law, the Oil Pollution Act [OPA], limits claims by fishermen, hotel owners and others against the operator of an offshore platform causing such pollution to $75 million." That is so misleading as to be false. BP is in Deep Something, and it isn’t Deep Water. Since the explosion occurred on April 20, the company’s stock has lost a quarter of its value, and no wonder. Analyst Greg Smith told Bloomberg that the ultimate cost to the company may be $10 billion.