Ayn original name = Alisa = Rational

[jeff]

I looked up the name Alisa (Ayn's original name in Russia from what I've read) and found that it is a greek name that means rational.

I never heard anyone mention this before and I thought it was interesting.

[Selene]

Jeff:

No that is some first post.

I was not aware of that either.

Welcome, if somewhat belated one.

Adam

[Reidy]

Neither was I, and I've spent several years studying Greek in and out of school. Do you have a source on this?

[Dragonfly]

But is it true? My information is that the Russian Алиса (Alisa) is a variant of the English Alice, which comes from the French Alis = Adelais, which in its turn comes from the German Adalheidis (modern version: Adelheid), which means 'of noble character' (Adel = nobility). In my Greek dictionary I find only άλις (alis), which means ample, rich, abundant.

[jeff]

I found a few sources.

Alyssa is another translation with the same meaning.

But it could be false.

Maybe it's all made up by some crazy Objectivist?

I just thought it was interesting and figured I'd mention it.

http://www.meaning-of-names.com/greek-names/alisa.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyssa

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Alyssa

[Selene]

Bravo Jeff.

Looks good to me.

Nice find.

Do we know anything about you productive worker, student agent of the New World Order who sits outside Doug's cave in Canada?

Adam

[jeff]

Do we know anything about you productive worker, student agent of the New World Order who sits outside Doug's cave in Canada?

?

You talking to me?

[sbeaulieu]

?

You talking to me?

I just had a flash of Robert DeNiro in the mirror on that one...haha!

~ Shane

[galtgulch]

I looked up the name Alisa (Ayn's original name in Russia from what I've read) and found that it is a greek name that means rational.

I never heard anyone mention this before and I thought it was interesting.

Jeff,

My understanding is that Ayn was born to Jewish parents and it occurs to me that the name Alisa Rosenbaum however it was spelled is not of Russian origin rather is of Hebraic origin. Your finding is quite a treasure! How could her parents who named her know just how rational she would become? More likely it is delightful coincidence.

Ayn Rand said that her intention in writing Atlas was not to be prophetic but to project her conception of the ideal man. If anything she hoped her book(s) would have the effect of preventing what happens in the book from happening in reality.

It is a challenge to wonder just what Ayn Rand would think is the appropriate course of action given the present state of the world and our own country. I think she would have been disappointed in the choices Alan Greenspan made especially his recent remarks in which he expresses his loss of faith in the free market! What a traitor to the cause he turned out to be!

I know that Ayn Rand would be in favor of a consistently profreedom movement. Consequently she would be proud of the efforts and accomplishments of so many endeavors which are working to lay the ideological foundation for a free society.

I am sure she would have misgivings about the Republican Party which has self destructed by its internal contradictions and failure to understand the proper foundation for a free market and the failure of the individuals within it to check their own premises in the realms of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and politics. It is a shame they find themselves still in control of the wreckage of a once somewhat better boat despite its ignorance of the proper philosophical foundation of a free society.

I do believe that she would find certain aspects of Ron Paul's career in politics appealing. For example his devotion to the original intent and limits imposed on the federal government within the Constitution and his advocacy of Austrian school of economics which she herself recommended to us with reservations in her book reviews in The Objectivist Newsletter.

We know why she would find fault with his religiosity and consequent mistaken positions regarding a woman's right to choose to abort and his misunderstanding of the theory of evolution. Nevertheless I think she just might have recommended that we, meaning Objectivists, get involved with the growing Campaign For Liberty whose members might be more open to our ideas since we share common ground regarding the Constitution, the wrongfulness of interventionism both domestic and foreign, our support for exploring the Austrian school of economics and our devotion to the cause of individual freedom and limited government.

www.campaignforliberty.com 17May 10 PM 153,200 members and growing.

gulch

Edited May 19, 2009 by galtgulch

[Selene]

Lol

Yes Jeff

I already know Shane is in the military.

I always ask people what they do or are working towards.

Adam

[Selene]

"...a woman's right to choose to abort..." certainly not a woman's right to under certain conditions to premeditatively murder a human being.

[galtgulch]

"...a woman's right to choose to abort..." certainly not a woman's right to under certain conditions to premeditatively murder a human being.

Adam,

Have you not read Ayn Rand's own article on the subject in Of Living Death in which she concludes that a woman has the right to choose to terminate her own pregnancy based on nothing more than her own whim!?

In other words she doesn't even have to have "a good reason" as it is her life and her body and none of anyone elses business. The implication is that the unborn does not have any rights until the moment it is actually born regardless of "viability outside the womb."

You need to read her article Man's Rights in The Virtue Of Selfishness to discover just what needs to be the case before it is meaningful to attribute "a right to life" to an entity. I think she is being generous because it is arguable whether a newborn has a "volitional, conceptual consciousness" which is rarely if ever discussed.

I must get to bed.

gulch

[Selene]

Rand was wrong on that issue.

[kiaer.ts]

I find this assertion that alyssa = "rational" quite dubious. There is no source provided in the baby name websites, and the wikipedia arrticle refers only to a baby name website, not a reputable source. Note that Elizabeth is provided as a synonym in the first site, even though Elizabeth is hebrew, not greek. I think it's BS.

[kiaer.ts]

I find this assertion that alyssa = "rational" quite dubious. There is no source provided in the baby name websites, and the wikipedia arrticle refers only to a baby name website, not a reputable source. Note that Elizabeth is provided as a synonym in the first site, even though Elizabeth is hebrew, not greek. I think it's BS.

These are the first two returns for "alyssa etymology" at google.

Search Results

Alyssa. Gender: Feminine Language: English Etymology: Alyssa is a fanciful respelling of Alice (based on the medieval form of Alys, or the modern Latin form ...

www.geocities.com/edgarbook/names/al/alyssa.html - Similar pages -

Alyssa - Wiktionary

[edit] Etymology. A 20th century invention, either derived from the flower ...

The Russian name is most certainly from the French.

There is no sensible etymology for "alyssa" with such a meaning in greek from proto-indo-european roots.

[Selene]

Thanks Ted.

This is why I do not buy bridges.

[Brant Gaede]

I wonder what happened to Doris Gordon of Libertarians for Life?

--Brant

[Chris Grieb]

I wonder what happened to Doris Gordon of Libertarians for Life?

--Brant

Brant; Doris Gordon is still around. She has to use a walker and has had some hearing loss. One of her associates died a couple of years ago and I don't think she has been able to find a replacement for him.

Brant; None of us are getting younger.

[Reidy]

Adding to 4, 14 and 15: the Liddell & Scott Greek-English Lexicon gives about a page of entries starting with "ali-", including άλις. Most of them have to do with the ocean and a few with offense or transgression but none with rationality.

[kiaer.ts]

Adding to 4, 14 and 15: the Liddell & Scott Greek-English Lexicon gives about a page of entries starting with "ali-", including άλις. Most of them have to do with the ocean and a few with offense or transgression but none with rationality.

I just decided last week to leave my Lidell & Scott in storage. I have had two copies stolen off me.

Could you look up alyssum? I think it is probably Pelasgian in origin, for local flora.

And is that halis with a rough breathing, or ális with an accute accent?

Could also be a compound of luein.

But I am sticking with alice>alisa and that's my final answer.

[Selene]

Ted:

"I have had two copies stolen off me."

I would definitely change my haberdashery!

Adam

[Dragonfly]

It's a bit unclear in my dictionary, but I think it's written with a spiritus asper, so that would become "halis". Alyssum seems to be derived from α - λύσσος (alpha with spiritus lenis, can't find it in the symbol list) = no rage, perhaps they thought it could be used as a cure for rage or madness? But I said in my previous post, Alissa is almost certainly a variant of Alice, which is ultimately derived from Adalheidis.

[Reidy]

To answer #20:

- Rough breathing for άλις;

- alusso is a verb that means to be in pain or in distress. Odd name for a flower, odder still for one's child. My conclusion is that the word doesn't come from Greek. By any spelling and on any account it's a nicer name than Adalheidis.