For the New Intellectual
The Philosophy of Ayn Rand
by Ayn Rand · first published 1961
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This is Ayn Rand's challenge to the prevalent philosophical doctrines of our time and the "atmosphere of guilt, of panic, of despair, of boredom, and of all-pervasive evasion" that they create. One of the most controversial figures on the intellectual scene, Ayn Rand was the proponent of a moral philosophy--and ethic of rational self-interest--that stands in sharp opposition to the ethics of altruism and self-sacrifice. The fundamentals of this morality--"a philosophy for living on Earth"--are here vibrantly set forth by the spokesman for a new class, For the New Intellectual.
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Read Ayn Rand's title essay in her anthology "For The New Intellectual" for the history and current state of Western thought.
on “Learning Path for Philosophy?” ↗…philosophy courses in regard to these issues but you need to understand the history and read Ayn Rand's Philosophy:Who_Needs_It, Introduction_To_Objectivist_Epistemology and the title essay of her anthology For_The_New_Intellectual.
on “Hypothetically I'm a genius, how do I contribute to physics?” ↗…endlessly discussed the validity of reason and logic which ultimately reduces to defining a valid theory of concepts (or abstractions). The best overview of this history is the introduction to Rand's book "For The New Intellectual". >By abstracting a system we can work with the essential relationships and features without getting caught up in details and exceeding our working memory capacity. You are on the right track here.…
on “Ask HN: What Is Abstraction?” ↗OP here. What a coincidence, it's precisely Ayn Rand I'm talking about, and I've read every book of hers except For the New Intellectual (by the time I got around to it, I had thankfully recovered). I even read most of Nathaniel Brandon. Please, don't try this. Ayn Rand has some great ideas, but they make certain assumptions about human…
on “You’re an Adult. Your Brain, Not So Much” ↗…right of self-defense. Such a government substitutes for morality the following rule of social conduct: you may do whatever you please to your neighbor, provided your gang is bigger than his." - from "For the New Intellectual" https://www.amazon.com/New-Intellectual-Philosophy-Anniversa...
on “Apple in China: who holds the keys?” ↗> Please provide a reference. See above. The books in which I could have located a reference are long gone; but it's in one of her short essays (if pushed, I'd suggest that it might be found in For the New Intellectual... but wouldn't want to be held to that). > What definition do you like? From wikipedia: "Different philosophers have had varied ideas about the nature of reason, and there is also disagreement…
on “How to Do Philosophy” ↗