Part One: Area of Philosophy
The question that is posed to us falls under the philosophy branch of ethics. Chaffee defines the branch of ethics in the following matter, “the study of moral values or principles. It is concerned with distinguishing between good and evil in the world, between what is right and wrong in human actions and between virtuous and non-virtuous characteristics of people” (30). The two philosophers who I will be discussing this question and possible answers with are Ruth Benedict and Ayn Rand. Both women have very interesting ideas about ethics and how these ethics play into this topic.
Part Two: Argument Analysis Ruth Benedict was an advocate of “cultural relativism”. Chaffee explains what cultural relativism is
Benedict’s arguments lead us to shooting the one person because we are within the culture of these people and cultural relativisms leads us to this being the morally correct choice. Rand’s beliefs of the virtue of selfishness would lead us to not shooting the one individual and instead letting 30 people die because that way there is no way for us to get jail time in our own country. My own argument is that while it is unfair to the one person who will be shot, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and by shooting the one person you save 29 other lives. There is also the possibility of your home country understanding the situation at hand and giving you a lighter sentence based on the situation. You may even be able to argue self-defense in court if you felt like the officer who told you to shoot one of the 30 people was going to kill you if you didn’t do it. As well as their maybe laws dictating how these crimes are handled while you are in a different country. So, it is possible that you manage to save 29 lives and don’t do 20 years in jail if you take one
Imagine a world where people are only expected to live up to 45 years old. In today's society, there are countries that experience this. In the novel Anthem, by Ayn Rand; there are many factors like lifestyle, government, medicine, and education that lead to this. There are a couple of ways where the world in the novel is similar and different to today's society.
Ayn Rand, in Anthem, illustrates a futuristic, socialist society. In the novel, Rand destroys any sense of individuality and describes the social setbacks endured after living ‘only for the brotherhood’. The individual person fails to exist and is but a ‘we’ and recognized by a word and a series of numbers rather than a name. Additionally, she describes the horrors encountered within this different system of life: from reproduction methods to punishments. Through the life of Equality 7-2521, Rand demonstrates a person’s journey from obedience to exile in this socialist society. Throughout the entire novel, Rand criticizes Marxist theory as she demonstrates socialism’s failure to suppress revolution, thwart material dialectic, and its detriment to humanity.
Regarding the autobiographical nature of Kira, the main character in We the Living, Ayn Rand said "The specific events of Kira's life were not mine; her ideas, her convictions, her values were and are." (xvii) So by examining Kira's views on different things one can conclude Rand most likely shares the same views. If one reads We the Living it is very evident what Rand's views of Communism are: she is out rightly opposed to it and its core values.
One of the overarching conflicts in Ayn Rand’s, Anthem, is Collectivism versus the belief in Heresy. Rand is a firm believer in heresy, making her one of history's most notable heretics. In the same way Anthem is bias, so is my ‘Big Idea’ collage. I used propaganda and symbolic images to express the importance and just within heresy. The two silhouettes of a human heads serves the significance of the seemingly everlasting conflict that both groups have. All the images that make up the silhouettes is what the different parties stand for. Equality’s rebellious views and experiments, such as ‘the power of the sky’ and the sacred manuscripts, are enclosed within the traced head on the right side. On the other side, I dissected the authority in
Ayn Rand’s True Philosophy, and the People and Events Who Show It. “I worship individuals for their highest possibilities as individuals, and I loathe humanity, for its failure to live up to these possibilities.” (Ayn Rand). Ayn’s novel lives up to these possibilities by expressing her hope for independence and individuality in the world. Freedom can only be achieved by man’s own ability to think, feel, make choices, and form their own judgement, and that is exactly what the novel is about.
In the book Anthem, the Council of Vocations assigns Equality the job of street-sweeper as a precaution. They fear an uprising that would cause anarchy because of the breakdown of the current collectivist government. They fear rebellion and the loss of their power. They fear his influence and his curiosity about the past. By making him a street-sweeper, they hoped to break his spirit and reform it for the collectivist world that they live in.
The Romantic period at its height extended over just a bit more than a century, from the latter half of the eighteenth century through to nearly the end of the nineteenth century. During this period, a new school of poetry was forged, and with it, a new moral philosophy. But, as the nineteenth century wound down, the Romantic movement seemed to be proving itself far more dependent on the specific cultural events it spanned than many believed; that is, the movement was beginning to wind down in time with the ebbing of the industrial and urban boom in much the same way that the movement grew out of the initial period of industrial and urban growth. Thus, it would be easy to classify the Romantic movement as inherently tied to its cultural context. The difficulty, then, comes when poets and authors outside of this time period-and indeed in contexts quite different then those of the original Romantic poets-begin to label themselves as Romantics.
“It is a sin to write this.” is how Ayn Rand’s Anthem begins. Equality, the main character, feels this way at the beginning at of the book, but by the end of the book, he feels differently. Equality learns how to be an individual, why it is good to be an individual, and what he has to do to save the rest of mankind from conforming to the collectivist society that he currently lives in.
Ayn Rand was born on February 2nd, 1905 as Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum to a Russian Jewish family in St. Petersburg, Russia (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). As a child, Rand was always a person of character (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). When she was two, she taught herself how to read, and by the time she was nine, she decided that she wanted to become a fictional writer (Hall 450-455). Even though she had aspiring dreams, Rand’s life was not so great. At twelve, she witnessed the Russian Revolution and the rise of the Bolsheviks (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). She and her family were forced to get rid of her their pharmacy and sought refuge in the Crimea Peninsula (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). However, through all of the turmoil that happened in her life, Rand was able to find love. On April 15th, 1929 she married actor Frank O’Connor (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). The following year Rand became a citizen of the United States of America (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). While Rand was in America, she faced lung cancer in 1974 because she smoked heavily (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). Sadly, Ayn Rand died on March 6th, 1982 in New York City, New York at 77 years old due to heart failure (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). Rand lived through some terrible times, but that does not mean that she did not live her life to the fullest in any way she possibly could.
She was often obstinate and arguable, creating several works using her knowledge of philosophy and bravely overcoming obstacles along the way. Mrs. Rand’s most popular novels were The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Although her career was initially interrupted when a play was unsuccessful and her first book sold inadequately, she quickly recovered with encouragement from close friends to continue her career.
Ayn Rand was truly a remarkable woman and accomplished an astonishing feat throughout her career and her philosophy continues to affect many people’s lives. Through her works of fiction and her essays later in her life she discovered a whole new philosophy, a philosophy for living on earth. This vision has inspired countless people to take charge of their own lives.
Capitalism, according to John Galt, is "mutual trade to mutual advantage," (Rand Atlas Shrugged 989) or as Adam Smith put it: "[trade] by mutual consent and to mutual advantage." In true capitalism, the economy is strictly separated from the state, just as there is a separation between church and state in the USA. This basic tenet of capitalism describes the only economic system that can be morally justifiable. Communism, fascism, socialism, dictatorships and "regulated capitalism" are all systems that breach upon an individual's basic rights, while capitalism respects and recognizes a man's right to control the product of his mind. In her philosophical treatise Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand uses fictional characters and events to dramatize the only economy that is consistent with man's rights and virtues.
Human beings are confronted with numerous issues throughout his or her lifetime that would require him or her to examine the best action to take to avoid the damaging consequences. In most cases, individuals restrain his or her action to take into consideration the consequences that may lead to the right or wrong behavior. One’s ethical and moral standards are first learned at an early age from his or her culture, how he or she is raised, religious background, and social system. Scientifically, there are various ethical theories, such as the virtue theory, deontological ethics, and utilitarianism (Boylan, 2009). By understanding these theories one can compare, contrast and uncover the reasoning behind his or her ethical and moral standards.
Philosophy is amongst the most difficult and challenging subjects anyone can discuss. Philosophy has changed throughout the years and it can be inquiring and critical. Most philosophers have different theories on how the world should be and there are many issues and questions that arise. What is real; what is truth; what is good; is the mind something separate from the body; and are we free, or are our actions determined so that we no longer have any control or influence? Immanuel Kant and Ayn Rand are two Philosophers that are respected for their different philosophies. Their lives, influences, and thoughts of how we should be as a society are ideas that make them so different.
Ayn Rand is a Russian-American author who wrote about her philosophy, Objectivism. Objectivism is the philosophy of rational individualism. Throughout her novel, The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand routinely endorses the individualists thinking and way of life. However, there is always an opposing side. Collectivism is the philosophy that the community comes before the singular man, and sometimes that must require sacrifice. In the Fountainhead, Ayn Rand presents the conflict between individualism and collectivism through her characters such as Howard Roark and Ellsworth Toohey.