Ayn Rand's Philosophy and Objectivism Movement

Rand's objectivism philosophy includes metaphysics, philosophy of science, ethics and aesthetics. In short, objectivism advocates that there are realities in the world that are independent of the mind, and individuals contact with these realities through sensory perception. They process the received data through rationality or "non-contradictory identification" and then turn it into knowledge. The legitimate moral purpose of a person's life is to pursue his own happiness or "rational self-interest", so the only social system that conforms to this moral concept is the laissez-faire capitalist system (listen to Rand's explanation of objectivism philosophy).

Famous objectivists include Nathaniel Brandon, alan greenspan and Leonard Pekov. Rand launched an objectivism movement to spread their philosophy. In her early career, Rand quite appreciated Nietzsche's works, and indeed accepted "Nietzsche's reverence for human potential and his strong aversion to Christianity and Kant's philosophy." However, she later began to criticize Nietzsche, thinking that his philosophy paid more attention to emotion than rationality, and paid more attention to subjective interpretation of reality than truth. Controversy usually focuses on the philosophical connection between Elander and Nietzsche, rather than whether Rand's philosophy is an extension of Nietzsche. Allen Gottsev claimed in On Ayn Rand that Rand's first edition of We Are Living is very similar to Nietzsche's philosophy. Bjorn Faulkner and Karen Andre pointed out that Rand showed some of Nietzsche's philosophical theories in the play "Night of 65438 +65438 10 +06" written in 1934. Ronald Merrill found that Rand deleted some contents from the first edition when reprinting 1959: "In the book, the heroine holds (although eventually ruled out) the view that it is just to sacrifice the weak to create the strong, which is obviously Nietzsche's idea." Rand himself denied that there was a close conceptual connection with Nietzsche. In We Live, 65438+.

In The Source, Gail Wynand's final destructive ending is one of the examples of Rand's later philosophy rejecting Nietzsche, that is, greatness is not achieved by sacrificing the masses: "In The Log (1934), she put forward the viewpoint of opposing the traditional ethics of either or. For example, in the record of May 15, she discovered the role of Gail Wynand and other Nietzsche's mistakes: in order to gain power, they manipulated the masses, but sacrificed their original ideals and values, thus becoming' slaves of those masses'. Therefore, an independent person will not subordinate his victory to the masses. "Finally, Rand peacefully preserved her philosophical changes and Nietzsche's influence on her, and concluded with Nietzsche's famous words in the introduction of the 25th anniversary edition of the first edition of The Fountain:" People with noble souls should first respect themselves. " Rand criticized Immanuel Kant's philosophy very strongly. The biggest philosophical difference between them is metaphysics and epistemology, but it is not Kant's famous absolute command. Her criticism of Kant's ethics is a direct attack on the basis of metaphysics and epistemology, but whether absolute imperative morality can coexist with objectivism remains to be discussed. Rand and Kant have completely different theories on human concept, ontology and perception: rationality is the highest good in objectivism epistemology, and both rationality and logic can be used to understand objective reality. This is directly contrary to Kant's analysis-synthesis dichotomy. Kant believes that it is impossible for us to know some real states and real knowledge ("things themselves"), but only the way we perceive these realities. For example, we can be sure that we can't imagine that some objects are extensible, but that doesn't mean that these objects must not be extensible. Rand believes that if an object has an impact on our perception, then the impact on perception will enable us to acquire knowledge about this object. At the most basic level, it tells us that an object belongs to a specific feature, for example, when an object affects someone's sensory organs, it makes someone know a specific feeling; Then, it represents the understanding of the characteristics of the object itself. In fact, whether Kant will oppose such a simple principle of realism is still controversial. In Rand's view, Kant's dichotomy cuts rationality and rationality in the real world in half-this is a betrayal of human nature. According to the rand corporation:

"I have mentioned in many articles that Kant is the leader who destroys the modern world ... You will find that Kant's philosophy is completely opposite to objectivism on every basic issue."

In the latest issue of Objectivist magazine, she further elaborated:

"Suppose you meet a crazy and miserable young man, and then ... find that he was raised by a monster who hates human beings. The monster systematically paralyzes his mind, destroys his self-esteem, destroys his ability to enjoy himself, and stops all his attempts to escape from the predicament ... This young man represents Western civilization, and that monster is Immanuel Kant. " 1In the 1950s, Rand moved to 120, east of 34th Street in new york, and established an objectivism group, which deliberately chose an ironic name "The Collective". The members of this group include alan greenspan, who will become a director of the Federal Reserve Board in the future, and Nadine Brandon, a young psychology student. Brandon was admitted. According to Brandon, "I wrote a letter to Ms. Rand on 1949 ... Then in March of 1950, a month before my 20th birthday, I received an invitation to a private party at her residence."

Ain Rand Group originally chose Rand's apartment for informal gathering every weekend to discuss objectivism philosophy. Later, the group continued to play a bigger and more formal role. Editor Atlas shrugged his shoulders, and later the Nadine Brandon Institute (NBI) was established. Through the efforts of this institute, the objectivism movement gradually spread in the sixties and seventies, and its members went to cities all over the United States to give lectures and teach. The institute also founded their newspaper Objectivist.

In the1960s and1970s, Rand developed and spread her objectivism philosophy through her novels and non-fiction works. Rand often lectures in universities in the eastern United States, mostly through the Nadine Brandon Institute founded by Brandon, spreading her philosophical thoughts: "The Objectivist Newsletter was later expanded and renamed the Objectivist Newspaper, which included articles written by Rand, Brandon and other members.

After several years of development, the friendship between Rand and Brandon has gradually turned into love, although both of them are married, and their ages are several decades apart. Finally, their ex-spouse learned about the scandal. Although they initially decided to accept the fact, it eventually led to the separation and divorce of Brandon and his wife.