2006-06-21 20:26:57 · 8 answers · asked by geizelcatz 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Sorry, but Ayn Rand, who also wrote a non-fiction book called "The Virtue of Selfishness", is not one of my favorites, either as a philosopher or as a writer.
As a philosopher, she seems to say that empathy (or even sympathy) is, in all cases, a sign of weakness, that an individual must be self-sufficient, that single-minded dedication to an ideal is all important.
I prefer to see all life as being intertwined, with all of us a part of each other. When you hurt someone else, you hurt yourself; when you help another, it's yourself you help as well.
As a writer, she creates characters aren't, in my opinion, human - they're idealized symbols of her notions.
2006-06-22 03:53:39 · answer #1 · answered by johnslat 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
in simple terms from studying your positioned up, i am going to deduce that you've in no way study Atlas Shrugged. I easily have study it. i ought to care a lot less what a superb author appears like because own visual allure has no longer some thing to do with the point an an persons IQ. i'm no longer saying I trust Ayn Rand yet this e book is really worth a study.
2016-11-15 02:42:48 · answer #2 · answered by ranaldo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a good read, and Objectivism is an interesting philosophy, but ultimately I decided I disagree with her premeses. If you believe in Objectivism (in that "being smart should be rewarded and greedy people who don't produce anything shouldn't be rewarded at all), you also have to believe that you have no moral obligation to help people who are less fortunate than you are, which means you pretty much have to reject Christianity and most modern moral systems since that's a basis for how many moral systems operate. I thought about it for a while, but decided I really do believe I wouldn't be a good person if I didn't care about other people - and Ayn Rand's philosophy sees caring about other people as a weakness.
Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead are great for exploring your own moral system, though.
2006-06-22 10:48:35 · answer #3 · answered by theycallmewendy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ayn Rand, says about her characters, she do not creat characters to fit in the novel but she creats ideal characters who she would want to meet in real life, she projects in her writings about how a ideal person could be and will she like to meet them in real life. I enjoyed FOUNTAIN HEAD and WE THE LIVING. I even wrote reviews about these 2 novels.
Misba
2006-06-21 20:39:27 · answer #4 · answered by Syed M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I finished reading it a few months ago. I loved it. While it does get a bit extreme and very crazy toward the end, it sure does drive the point home. And it sickens me now to see our society dwindling down that same road as portrayed in that book. We need to stop it before it destroys our great country.
2006-06-24 08:44:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best part in this book is the speech on Money by Francesco d'Anconia. It leaves you breathlessly indignant and rooting for him.
2006-06-24 21:28:20 · answer #6 · answered by Dilliwala 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I read it a long time ago. It was a very good read, and there is a lot to what she is saying.
2006-06-21 20:29:36 · answer #7 · answered by NotEasilyFooled 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is far and away the best book ever written. you have made a good choice.
2006-06-24 21:26:57 · answer #8 · answered by iconoclast_ensues 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋