does anyone know of any good books by Ayn Rand in the style of Anthem?
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some Ayn Rand, anyone? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Feed The Ravens
- Start date
Ayn Rand's ideas are epxlicitly evil and satanic. But the thing is, it is beautifully crafted evil. It's kinda like the speech from the guy who was convicting Joan of Arc. What they say is terrible and destructive, but it's... i don't know. its like :bomb:
I've read a number of Rand's essays. In her writings, I see nothing that is neither evil nor Satanic. Rand wasn't a Satanist. I do agree with a number of her ideas and beliefs--although while some Libertarians do embrace Objectivism, Objectivists won't embrace Libertarianism. I'd have to say that The Virture of Selfishness is one of my favorite Rand books.
They are Satanic in philosophy (i.e. things like "I am God" from Anthem and the forbidden word, which I suppose I shouldn't reveal). I know Rand wasn't a Satanists, that's obvious, but her views on how one should see themselves and treat the world follow the Satanic principle (that one should just leave others be, avoid loss, and if others get in your way make them get out of the way).
C
Cherry Leigh
Almost all of Rand's works carry the same theme, the importance of individuality. Her background growing up in communist Russia plays into her worship of the human ego. The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are two heavy hitters from her, both with the same basic plot, however, the latter is much more involved. I highly recommend them both if you liked Anthem. Rand's work is impressive and worth reading.
Feed The Ravens said:
Exalting happiness, creativity, and individualism is evil?
Anyhow, THE FOUNTAINHEAD is probably where you want to head next, as it's one of her most well-written works, and makes reading ATLAS SHRUGGED easier as you become aquainted with her basic philosophy.
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When your idea of happiness is completely putting yourself against all others then yes, it is evil. But the creativity part is what I like, it's what make's it worht my time to read more than Anthem.
Don't do this...
Ravens, don't make statements like that without giving the author the courtesy of reading all about what made her tick. This woman was brilliant and I personally believe in a great deal of what she expressed from a philosophical standpoint. Don't use her name and satanic or 'evil' in the same sentence again until you read The Virtue of Selfishness. It would appear that you've read and believe the 'opinions' of others. Read the aforementioned book and form your own. Think about the power of an intellect capable of creating a philosophy of her own in this day and age. You don't have to agree with everything she believed in or wrote about but you'll respect her a great deal if you do yourself the privilege of this read. Her accomplishments are great and that acknowledgement is doing her an injustice with understatement. Read Virtue before you tackle Atlas and Fountainhead. You'll probably enjoy them even more if you do.
Feed The Ravens said:
Ravens, don't make statements like that without giving the author the courtesy of reading all about what made her tick. This woman was brilliant and I personally believe in a great deal of what she expressed from a philosophical standpoint. Don't use her name and satanic or 'evil' in the same sentence again until you read The Virtue of Selfishness. It would appear that you've read and believe the 'opinions' of others. Read the aforementioned book and form your own. Think about the power of an intellect capable of creating a philosophy of her own in this day and age. You don't have to agree with everything she believed in or wrote about but you'll respect her a great deal if you do yourself the privilege of this read. Her accomplishments are great and that acknowledgement is doing her an injustice with understatement. Read Virtue before you tackle Atlas and Fountainhead. You'll probably enjoy them even more if you do.
E
Enigma326
I highly recommend the Fountainhead. It's my favorite.
Feed The Ravens said:
If all that you've read of Rand is Anthem (and I presume you have heard opinions of her that are coloring yours), then you're not really in much of a position to speak with accuracy about her ideas, anymore than I'm in a position to speak with accuracy about Nietzsche's views if all I've read of his work is "The Birth of Tragedy" (I've read most of his main body of work, but it's a fitting example). Rand, like any other philosopher, can easily be misinterpreted.
Here are two good guidelines when dealing with Rand:
1. Don't take what anyone else says about her as truth. Examine her philosophy independent of others, and form your own ideas. Don't accept anything second-hand, but go to the source. A person's view of Rand will affect how he interprets her ideas.
2. Don't jump to conclusions on her ideas before actually giving them a fair chance -- many people will see the word "selfishness" and then proclaim that she is evil for exalting it. In fact, her interpretation of 'selfishness,' 'greed,' 'arrogance,' 'etc.' are exceedingly different from the popular definitions. People refuse to see past the words into the ideas themselves.
Rand had several views which I saw as weak or otherwise faulty (her horrible opinions on esthetics; her dismissal of anything the moment she sees it as 'irrational'; her opinion on environmentalism, and likewise, the consequences of unrestrained pollution by factories and large corporations; her urging to take every word of hers as gospel truth, thus one cannot like Joyce or Stein without having the 'irrational premises' that makes them brothers-in-intellect with the communist party; her view of homosexuality, which is 'irrational,' as she has no rational reason to refute it the way she does; anything involving her thoughts on Kant's philosophy; etc.), but every philosopher has his or her flaws, and it is by the good that I measure their overall worth, not by their weaknesses. In the end, think for yourself and be sure to give her ideas a fair chance.