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July 26, 2007

I'm kind of a philosopher, and I love Ayn Rand

This little item just popped up on my Google news alert for the keyword "philosopher." Steve Gimbel, philosophy professor at Gettysburg College doesn't much like the progress Objectivists are making in academia. I registered a few choice comments:

I’m “kind of a philosopher” myself (Ph.D. 2007 from a major program), and I happen to like Ayn Rand very much. I don’t think it’s because it rationalizes my place in society. As an adjunct professor who makes less than $20,000 a year, there’s not much of a position to rationalize.

One of the things I learned in my education as a “kind of philosopher” is that I shouldn’t make serious comments about philosophers I haven’t read. I especially shouldn’t speculate about the psychology of people who like to read those philosophers. Yet your post provides no evidence of ever having read (much) Ayn Rand, save perhaps for secondary commentary. If you had, you’d realize that she does not object to caring for others.

What she does object to is people who regard sacrifice to others as a kind of moral virtue. And she thinks that nobody should ever sacrifice, whether they are specimens of human excellence or not. Even the meekest adjunct professor has a right to pursue his happiness, and shouldn’t sacrifice it, even to those above him with tenure. Mutatis mutandis for the meekest plumbers, whom Ayn Rand thought were usually of greater productive virtue than most tenured professors. See the character of Eddie Willers in Atlas Shrugged (which I’m positive you haven’t read).

Readers, especially of the academic inclination, are encouraged to join the chorus.

Posted by admin at July 26, 2007 04:17 PM

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