Philosophy On One Foot-The Basics of Objectivism by Ayn Rand
Posted by Zenphamy 9 years, 4 months ago to Philosophy
During the last week, we've had 2 or 3 posts related to Conservatism vs Objectivism. I ran into this brief reply by Ayn Rand when she was asked if she could explain her philosophy while standing on one foot.
Her entire reply is well worth a read, but the last sentence of her reply is exactly on point to the disagreements expressed by some commenters in those referenced posts:
" Which is why philosophy cannot be discussed while standing on one foot—nor while standing on two feet on both sides of every fence. This last is the predominant philosophical position today, particularly in the field of politics."
That reply was in 1962, but still addresses politics today, particularly here in Galt's Gulch. .
Her entire reply is well worth a read, but the last sentence of her reply is exactly on point to the disagreements expressed by some commenters in those referenced posts:
" Which is why philosophy cannot be discussed while standing on one foot—nor while standing on two feet on both sides of every fence. This last is the predominant philosophical position today, particularly in the field of politics."
That reply was in 1962, but still addresses politics today, particularly here in Galt's Gulch. .
Previous comments... You are currently on page 4.
Q: Do you believe in evolution
A; No, I understand evolution, just as a I do not believe in gravity, I understand it.
The reason this is important is that you may think you are having a discussion about Politics and the person you are talking to is talking about Ethics. For instance, you may be talking about censorship and they say eliminating someone comments on your website is censorship. You are talking about politics and you counter that you are not the government and neither is your website so it is impossible for you to violate their 1st amendment rights. They are talking ethics and believe that all opinions are equally valid and they look at you like your are a martian and claim you are to the right of Attila the Hun.
I am pretty sure I tend to get confused about these concepts because so many people use confusing language to express them, thinking, I am sure, that it makes them seem more intelligent. Well, maybe to themselves, anyway.
I do appreciate this.
I had not seen this description before but it made instant perfect sense.
Sadly the bulk of one former tied to the center philosophically and politically group the, Republicans, are now the right wing of the left learning how to do stiff arm salutes and say We Serve The Party...starting with Rand and Cruz and finishing with Clinton and Sanders.
Ahh well....
It is possible to straddle the center and have one foot left and one right or one foot barely touching the center and the other going in one and one only direction - and by my way of thinking perfectly acceptable but one step further puts you in some other systems center and one may no longer claim the rights privileges and responsibilities of the Constitution with it's associated philosophy.
Dale has put together two outlines for talks. This is one of them. Moving between the 4 (some argue 5) platforms of a philosophy should be practiced. I notice that it is the most often contradiction in here. Most recently, between Ethics and Politics.having this handy chart helps , I think.
Epistemology meaning definitions
Morals depend on the first two.
Can't get much shorter than that.
That's all three of them.