tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364362406345742956.post8952897358227829178..comments2023-10-23T09:23:05.584-05:00Comments on Live Oaks: The 2009 Live Oaks Awards, Part 3Brian Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06604845862020723068noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364362406345742956.post-50974280814121768752009-12-31T15:06:24.725-06:002009-12-31T15:06:24.725-06:00Clay,
I would argue that you are misunderstanding ...Clay,<br />I would argue that you are misunderstanding Rand.<br /><br />Rand did promote selfishness--her book on ethics is titled <i>The Virtue of Selfishness</i>. The chapter in which she introduces Galt's Gulch in <i>Atlas Shrugged</i> is titled "The Utopia of Greed". Roark was not focused on others--he was focused on his values. Objectivism--a philosophy of reason--is incompatible with Christianity.<br /><br />Spiritual means pertaining to consciousness. To say that "love for anything spiritual" may be missing in Rand's work is to ignore the theme of <i>Atlas</i>--the role of the mind in man's life.Brian Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06604845862020723068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364362406345742956.post-65100587156300800752009-12-31T10:21:40.938-06:002009-12-31T10:21:40.938-06:00Self-interest or self-centered seems to be the mai...Self-interest or self-centered seems to be the main concern with most who do not understand Ayn Rand. Those who admire and criticize Ayn Rand’s beliefs about people who stand on their own feet often say she promoted selfishness, thereby greed, which is self-centered and anti-individual creativity. That is anti-Rand. Rand admired the creative individual, people like railroad builder James Jerome Hill, on whom she was reputed to have based her character Nathaniel Taggart in Atlas Shrugged. If we look at Howard Roark’s summation to the jury, from Fountainhead, we do not see a self-centered individual destroying his work. If he was greedy he would have simply accepted his payment. We see an other- and outer-centered individual in love with his own dreams and creations, as one would love a spouse, child or family and refuse to allow them to be assaulted. That is the kind of self-interest that built America. Though love for anything spiritual may be missing, a great idea or vision also measures up to that which is spiritual, beyond self, and that view is not that inconsistent with Christianity. Claysamerica.com.Clay Barhamnoreply@blogger.com