Ayn Rand

I'll try to spur a little intellectual conversation here in the "not related" category for all you proggers.

Ayn Rand is, hands-down, my all-time favorite author. I've read Anthem, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and The Virtue of Selfishness. I love her novels not simply for the stories contained in them, which are truly great tales of heroism against all odds, but for the philosophical content held within. With few exceptions, I would consider myself an objectivist and I really do share most of Rand's views on ethics, politics, and the nature of life here on earth. Don't get this mistaken though, I'm not making this thread to espouse my personal beliefs, I just want to stimulate some conversation of her ideas.

For those of you who aren't familiar with her ideas, her philosophy can best be sumed up as such:

• Metaphysics: Reality
• Epistemology: Reason
• Ethics: Rational Self-Interst, or Egoism
• Politics: Minimalism/Anarchism
• Economics: Free-Market Capitalism
• Asthetics: Romanticism

If anybody wants any clarification on that, I'll be happy to do my best to explain it to you.

Also, for any high school or college students on the board who might be interested, the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, CA holds a national essay contest on Rand's novels for big cash prizes. If you're interested, check out the link below:

http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_ contests_index

I love her stuff. I agree more with her philosophy than anything else.

I agree that her heroes are narrow, but I see that as a positive thing, as I myself am the same way. Howard Roark's quest for self realization was so he could enjoy the joys of life. Architecture was the joy of life for him, just like music is the joy of life for so many of the bands featured in this site. Think about artists that enjoy "the joys of life", consider rappers and poser rockers, or punk rockers that enjoy the simple joys. Most of their work is trash. Not to say that rockers dont enjoy those pleasures (think about the phrase 'sex, drurs, rocknroll').

Anyone else read her stuff? I often find myself the only person in a group that knows about her (with the exception of my friend who suggested her to me).

I agree. And as for emotion, that may have been done intentionally too. She might not have wanted people reading her books to get the idea that she was contradicting herself. She might have been using them as an example of how people can not let raw, unrestrained emotion interfere with important decisions.

Her influence is also seen in later albums such as Permanent Waves, Signals, and Moving Pictures (I hear Tom Sawyer and think of nothing but Atlas Shrugged).

I don't know that she would like Hemispheres (she would probably agree with Circumstances), but I don't think she'd like Cygnus Book II that much.

Interestingly, Dream Theater's latest album has hints of Ayn Rand influence in As I Am, Honor Thy Father, and In the Name of God

BTW, sweet avatar doodad.

My interpretation of Fountains of Lamneth is that the entire story is a metaphor of growing up... "in the valley" is about the innocence of childhood, "no one at the bridge" about the confusions and fears brought on by growing up, "panacea" about finding love, and "bacchus plateau" about the monotony of daily life.... but its really the beginning of "in the valley" and "the fountain" that anchor the meaning of the song. Obviously through the song, there's the theme of personal experience and development. Rand's ethics, egoism, is undeniably present in this way... but the end and the beginning provide the basis for the experience. Peart lyrically places a lot of focus on "I Am." For those of you who have read Rand's novelette Anthem, the story takes place in a world where the words "I" and "am" no longer exist. Another instance occurs in this stanza of "the fountain":

Now, at last I fall before
The Fountain of Lamneth
I thought I would be singing
But I'm tired... out of breath
Many journeys end here
But, the secret's told the same
Life is just a candle
And a dream must give it flame

Life is just a candle and a dream must give it flame: objectivism holds that although man is an end in himself, that does not mean that man is virtuous for merely existing, as many other philosophies proport, particularly eastern ones. Man must take action to be virtuous. Also, reference the last stanza:

I'm in motion
I am still
I am crying
I am still
I'm together
I'm apart
I'm forever
At the start

Still... I am

Rand alludes in much of her writing to the perfect innocence of the newborn. The newborn is naturally set to certain ethical conditions which are such that the newborn does what it can to survive... and although these ideas are not refined, they provide the basis for correct human living. As we grow up in an society, a few good elements of our natural system of ethics are refined for the better, but mostly our thought processes are made irrational. Rand envisions a return to more natural reason and true egoist ethics.  These lyrics above have that same theme connected to them, as this part of the song mirrors the way the song begins. I love that the song ends with "still... I am" as well, because that really puts good closure on the theme of the song.

Thats my two cents on that...

Sweetnighter wrote: I'll try to spur a little intellectual conversation here in the "not related" category for all you proggers. Ayn Rand is, hands-down, my all-time favorite author. I've read Anthem, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and The Virtue of Selfishness. I love her novels not simply for the stories contained in them, which are truly great tales of heroism against all odds, but for the philosophical content held within. With few exceptions, I would consider myself an objectivist and I really do share most of Rand's views on ethics, politics, and the nature of life here on earth. Don't get this mistaken though, I'm not making this thread to espouse my personal beliefs, I just want to stimulate some conversation of her ideas. For those of you who aren't familiar with her ideas, her philosophy can best be sumed up as such: Metaphysics: Reality Epistemology: Reason Ethics: Rational Self-Interst, or Egoism Politics: Minimalism/Anarchism Economics: Free-Market Capitalism Asthetics: Romanticism If anybody wants any clarification on that, I'll be happy to do my best to explain it to you. Also, for any high school or college students on the board who might be interested, the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, CA holds a national essay contest on Rand's novels for big cash prizes. If you're interested, check out the link below: http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_ contests_index

What makes her so great?

I agree. Her philosophy is quite obscure (Hell, nobody can say for certain what miss Rand saw in an ideal world), but nonetheless, she has had a significant impact on modern politics.

And she's still mainly ignored... a genius ahead of her time.

Reading the begining of the Finnish national pole book "Kalevala" made me always think of the opening/closing lyrics of "The fountains of lamneth" Wish i "finnished" that book, actually it's a giant poem that tells the origin of of that part off the world.  It's very long. what we call sanzas are what they call "runos" and runo's are as long as short stories.  I discovered this book listening to Amorphis's "Tales from 1-thousand lakes". I discovered "the silmarillion" like that from Blind Guardian's "tales from middle-earth.  what this has to do with Ayn Rand i do not know but,

Does any one else know any other good albums/songs based on books. I know Peter Hammill did "fall of the house of usher", alan parsons "tales of mystery and imagination", and pink floyds "the gnome" was inspired by the hobbit.

name some more

Oh yeah uh Roger Waters "Amused To death" was inspired by Neil Postman's "Amusing ourselves To Death"  Waters delared at a concert in the 80's that it was his favorite book

James Lee wrote: I must be forgetting something- where's the Tolkien connection in Floyd?

You mean the "gnome" and "the hobbit".  The title "piper at the gates of dawn" was taken from the chapter of some book syd barret read. the name of the book escapes me at the moment