Objectivism? What is that?

[engineer-of-doom]

This is a thread to allow people who aren't sure about the philosophy to ask questions and learn more about it. 3nodding  

[Quilius]

Isn't objectivism the philophy described in contrast to socialism in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind???  

[engineer-of-doom]

Well, certainly the individualism expressed in the books is a highly valued portion of Objectivism. I'd try to answer your question more clearly, but I read the Sword of Truth novels before I studied Objectivism, so I'm not sure if I would be entirely correct. Mr. Goodkind is clearly either an Objectivist or a Libertarian, of that I'm quite sure. Given that, we know he was strongly influenced by Ayn Rand's works.  

[Sein_Ist]

I've yet to read Goodkind, but by all accounts he is an Objectivist, or at least claims to be.  

[whoisjgalt]

engineer-of-doom

Well, certainly the individualism expressed in the books is a highly valued portion of Objectivism. I'd try to answer your question more clearly, but I read the Sword of Truth novels before I studied Objectivism, so I'm not sure if I would be entirely correct. Mr. Goodkind is clearly either an Objectivist or a Libertarian, of that I'm quite sure. Given that, we know he was strongly influenced by Ayn Rand's works.

You know, it's been about five years since I first picked up WFR, but I think you're onto something there. I distinctly remember that sort of a flavor in his books, at least, in the two or three I read before I started reading more non-fiction than fiction.  

[Wordstreamer~Nifty Fairy~]

I've never actually read Goodkind, but I'm beginning to think that it could be interesting to do so.  

[Efstathios]

I haven't read enough Sword of Truth to be sure, but I think you're right that he supported objectivist philosophy.
Ayn Rand created objectivism, as far as I know. The easiest place to learn about it is Anthem, it's a very short book, and it's good. Better would be one of the longer novels or one of Rand's many essays.

Objectivism, if I recall is the idea that one person does not have to sacrifice themselves for the good of others, because if everyone's sacrificing, who's getting the sacrifices?
There's always someone on top, "collecting tithe" If I may be so blunt.  

[miserable failure]

I've gone to Wikipedia to look into this idea, and objectivism just goes to a kind of disambiguation page with about 10 different articles...

Quote:

Objectivism is a philosophy[1] developed by Ayn Rand that encompasses positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics.

Objectivism holds that there is a mind-independent reality; that individuals are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that humans gain objective knowledge from perception by measurement, and by forming concepts that correspond to natural categories by measurement omission; that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or "rational self-interest;" that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual human rights, embodied in pure, consensual laissez-faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform abstract knowledge, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form - a work of art - that one can apprehend and respond to with the whole of one's consciousness.

Is this article the correct one to look at?  

[engineer-of-doom]

KoopaTroopaMaria

I've gone to Wikipedia to look into this idea, and objectivism just goes to a kind of disambiguation page with about 10 different articles...

Quote:

Objectivism is a philosophy[1] developed by Ayn Rand that encompasses positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics.

Objectivism holds that there is a mind-independent reality; that individuals are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that humans gain objective knowledge from perception by measurement, and by forming concepts that correspond to natural categories by measurement omission; that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or "rational self-interest;" that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual human rights, embodied in pure, consensual laissez-faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform abstract knowledge, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form - a work of art - that one can apprehend and respond to with the whole of one's consciousness.

Is this article the correct one to look at?

That certainly seems to sum it up in a nutshell. I haven't actually looked at the entire wiki article, but I see nothing to disagree with in what you've quoted.  

[darcyshirley33]

engineer-of-doom

KoopaTroopaMaria

I've gone to Wikipedia to look into this idea, and objectivism just goes to a kind of disambiguation page with about 10 different articles...

Quote:

Objectivism is a philosophy[1] developed by Ayn Rand that encompasses positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics.

Objectivism holds that there is a mind-independent reality; that individuals are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that humans gain objective knowledge from perception by measurement, and by forming concepts that correspond to natural categories by measurement omission; that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or "rational self-interest;" that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual human rights, embodied in pure, consensual laissez-faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform abstract knowledge, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form - a work of art - that one can apprehend and respond to with the whole of one's consciousness.

Is this article the correct one to look at?

That certainly seems to sum it up in a nutshell. I haven't actually looked at the entire wiki article, but I see nothing to disagree with in what you've quoted.

so objectivism doesn't believe there's any sort of reduction or alienation occurring between objective reality and the abstractions of reality (measurement, categorization, etc.)?  

[seraphiel2k6]

wow this is getting confusing
i rem reading anthem and the fountainheads back in freshmen year.
we had discussions, but our teacher didnt mention how rand created objectivism  

[Nosferateu9]

Oh, okay! ^^ Is morality important in day to day life, then?  

[Objectivism]

Nosferateu9

Oh, okay! ^^ Is morality important in day to day life, then?

According to Dictionary.com, "morality" means: The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct. This being said, Ayn Rand and her Objectivist philosophy fully accepts and embraces said morality.

But what is moral for those involved in thoughts of Objectivism? Morality, as said above, is choosing the right and avoiding the wrong. The true path of mankind is rational selfishness, that is, that no one should be sacrificing their own self for the sake of another, or asking another to sacrifice himself for the sake of the asking person. It upholds that the value of human life is to live a happy one, and to survive by the means of its own ways.

So yes, morality is the center of this philosophy.  

[starnes]

i'm totally lost here  

[Spunk-a-doo]

Wow. Is that related to transcendentalism? Only problem I see is that since we are all imperfect and ultimately if push comes to shove - tell me how many people will put others before themselves. You can lose yourself in art, dance, music, spirituality, love, but in the end we are flesh and blood and as it's been said - separated from the animal kingdom by our rational - I believe that objectivism is another form of idealism and altho we can strive for the best parts, because we are human - we are fooling ourselves if we think anyone will ever attain perfection in mind, body or soul. We can only find the best in everything and strive to excersize that in our lives.