escott

Nouveau indeed

I thought so, but i'm a little thick. Thanks for introducing me to "subtle" humor.

Michael, thanks for your note. I think the article you pointed to would make more sense if I knew more about the terminology being used. I suppose that for someone familiar with the subject, the references to TOC, etc, would make sense. The article wasn't written well for people as unfamiliar with the subject as I am. For someone like me, who is not familiar with the vocabulary, it seems like there is an objectivist “movement” rumbling, among hierarchy-loving intellectuals. But what do I know I’m completely ignorant to the subject if you have not guessed that already – this is just my first reaction. I did think it was funny that the article referenced the use of quoted words. My putting the word “alive” in quotes was not intentional, and was not informed by a membership in one school or another. I posted the way I did because after reading your post, my immediate reaction was that you seemed to be “with it,” or “alive,” whereas many people strike me as walking dead. Don’t ask me why!

After my post I saw yours... it's great to hear words from another person who appears to be "alive."

Who qualifies as being an objectivist? Jeesh... people really do need to feel like they are part of a group. Why must everything be made into an exclusive club? That's a rhetorical question, the answer is obvious.

I'm reading Atlas Shrugged, and after a few "Googles" i've learned a little more about objectivism, and then I found these forums, and this essay in particular. So, i'm a little ignorant to what's being discussed here, but I thought i'd comment anyway. One of the arguments in the essay above was that reproduction is one of the tenants of living a "full" life, at least according to objectivist thought. That may be so, but that is certainly not the message I would infer after several hundred pages of Fountainhead. So far at least, Fountainhead seems to recognize the futility and devastation of life. We start out pure and we're corrupted by life forces which have occurred naturally, but are not natural. There can be no definition of an ideal life because life doesn't exist. Life is not what we do but how we see it. In our thoughts, writings, and interactions with others, we project that which we know and feel, and we perpetually strive to become what it is we think we are. A person leads a full life by remaining as pure as he possibly can be. Regardless of what you do with your life, it will be over, and eventually the fruits of your reproduction, and their fruits, and the fruits after that will shrivel and die. There is no thing as “creating” in the long run, when there is confidence that in the end, none of it will exist. Living a full life means being true to yourself and maintaining perspective until death. It means succeeding by not fooling yourself into repeating the mantras that have been developed by the collective fear of nations and men. A full life can be led without living any life at all.