| ign="center"> | | | | who disdains such sources of joy. Roark's only |
| Rand's insight is to ground the morality of individualism | | | | respect for nature is to create edifices that |
| in the instinct for survival in all living entities and in the | | | | aesthetically harmonize with the landscape and that |
| particular mode of survival of the human species: the | | | | take maximum advantage of the climate in which |
| ability to conceptualize in higher-order thinking and | | | | they are set. This is the major factor in the |
| thus make rational choices, not just automatically | | | | "objectivity" of his original designs. Philosophers |
| react to sensory stimuli as other animals presumably | | | | Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas Rasmussen consider |
| do (Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology). Natural | | | | Rand's theory a contribution to ethics, because, |
| human rights, she asserts, require the freedom to | | | | instead of defining morality as exclusively centered |
| make those choices for a purposeful life. The | | | | on others, in a concern traditionally based on |
| intertwined primary rights of life and liberty are not | | | | supernatural fiat, she bases morality on the |
| just the means of mere physical Links Of London | | | | teleological necessity of individual self-interest as a |
| Charms survival but also the means of a happiness | | | | living organism ("Life, Teleology" 66-68). In sum, one's |
| that is more than simply wish fulfillment in avoiding | | | | existence creates a primary Links Of London Earrings |
| pain or seeking pleasure. The purpose is survival as | | | | moral imperative for "the virtue of selfishness." This |
| "man qua man," she avers, which fulfills the self by | | | | could also be encapsulated in the first of three |
| employing one's rationality productively as an | | | | related rhetorical questions posed by the ancient |
| achievement (Virtue of Selfishness 28). | | | | Jewish sage, Rabbi Hillel: "If I am not for myself, who |
| Rand's glorification of human productivity translates | | | | will be" |
| into technological control of nature as humanity's | | | | Hillel's second question, "But if I am for myself alone, |
| supreme achievement by obeying its laws as | | | | what am I," hints not only at the self's relation to |
| objectively and scientifically as one knows how, of | | | | others but also at the very constitution of one's |
| course. For her, the pursuit of happiness entails a | | | | self-consciousness. Rand affirms that, because human |
| self-esteem that is founded on coping rationally with | | | | consciousness exists only at the level of the |
| the absolute existence of the material world, which is | | | | individual, each rational person deals with other people |
| why she calls her philosophy "Objectivism." Her | | | | according to how rational they are. Personal relations |
| exemplar hero, Howard Roark, as an architect, | | | | are not just a material quid pro quo, but include |
| becomes the embodiment of her anthropocentric | | | | higher goods she calls "spiritual," defined as "pertaining |
| ethic. The novel opens with Roark confronting a | | | | to one's consciousness," and "moral," which derives |
| magnificent landscape, only to be inspired by its | | | | the rights of others from one's own (Virtue 28-29). |
| potential for him to exploit: "These rocks, he thought | | | | Accordingly, the rational person is capable of honoring |
| [...] are here for me; waiting for the drill, the dynamite | | | | and even loving another according to the degrees of |
| and my voice". Later, a character who shares Roark's | | | | joy that one takes in the relationship. |
| view remarks, "When I look at the ocean, I feel the | | | | Report this article |
| greatness of man. I think of man's magnificent | | | | This article is free for republishing |
| capacity that created this ship to conquer all that | | | | Source: |
| senseless space". Rand's view is very different from | | | | Republish this article |
| the attitude of Thoreau, an admirer of nature whose | | | | |
| highest good was not to produce from it, but simply | | | | Ask a Question About this Article |
| to reach spiritual epiphanies in contemplating it. That | | | | >> Did Medi-Collagenics work for you?? |
| view would be irrational mystical subjectivity to Rand, | | | | |