On Saturday, May 27, 2000 6:27 PM Dan Adams danadams@yahoo.com wrote:
> It's sad that Rand wasted such a brilliant mind on
> such a defeatist, "mental-masturbatory" philosophy...
I don't completely catch Adams' drift here, though I agree that Rand often
did and her followers often do use her ideas to be cynical and smug. Still,
this speaks more to her and their character than to the validity of the
ideas themselves, especially if one takes off the chains. (What chains?
The chains of taking Rand's philosophy in an all or nothing fashion.
Surely, she encouraged this, but one need not accept it. I pick and choose
and so should Adams.)
> and, before I get flamed for that statement,
Flame on!:)
> I realize
> we all share her ideals of independence. Nonetheless,
> as one who has studied her work thoroughly, I feel
> confident (though, granted, not infallible) in saying
> that she turned a golden ideal into an empty
> rhetoric...
I disagree, though I do think she too often used a lot of loaded rhetoric.
A lot of times, her rhetoric hides the subtleties in her writings.
Cheers!
Daniel Ust
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/
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