(April 2, 2012 at 9:40 am)Epimethean Wrote: I changed no accusation, but have maintained the one I made, which is that Rand was not a fan of the individual (call the expressed individual individualism if you will) when the individual did not put himself at her disposal,
And that was not the charge you originally made. Yours was regarding hypocrisy. And as of this statement, I see that you do not understand the difference between being a fan of individual and being a fan of individualism.
(April 2, 2012 at 9:40 am)Epimethean Wrote: and if you think that Rand dismissed Branden from her circle due merely to disagreements about philosophy, I can see why you admire her.
I don't think that. Rand was left bitter after the dissolution of their affair and did not want to associate with Branden in any context - so she dismissed him while coming up with whatever reasons she could. She departed from some aspects of her own philosophy on the matter, but stayed within the within the whole of it.
(April 2, 2012 at 9:40 am)Epimethean Wrote: My assessment of Rand is that she was fine pontificating about her cult of the individual, but never had a means of understanding just why it creates unfeeling, selfish beings-because she already was one.
Selfish - most definitely, but unfeeling - not quite. If anything, these examples show that Rand felt things a bit too deeply.
Anyway, her personal life has little to do with her philosophy of Objectivism. Yes, I know that she claimed that her life was a perfect example of Objectivism in practice - but she was wrong. There are multiple instances which can be pointed out where she deviated from the stated tenets of Objectivism (the Branden case being one).
Further, the philosophy itself is not foolproof, no matter how much Rand considered it so. There are quite a few points where the conclusion is forced or not completely justified - but more or less, I find it to be a good philosophy to live by. I participated in this thread to discuss the philosophy - not defend Ayn Rand from ad-hom attacks - real or imaginary. My respect for her requires me to defend against imaginary charges - however, I'd prefer to discuss Objectivism here - not Ayn Rand. So if you could limit you arguments to the criticism of her philosophy, I'd appreciate it.
