Ayn Rand's Theoretical Analysis
Entry 05 Bonkers is a happy clown, always smiling and telling jokes, Everywhere he went he left some downright happy folks, "Pinch my nose, pull my leg, jump up and down with me!" Without fail, his catchphrase would have kids shout in glee!
Equality 7-2521 doesn’t like what the council of vocations assigned his job for the rest of his life. He was always different from his brothers and people look at him like. Equality 7-2521 always wanted to be apart of the home of the scholars and learn more things. While doing his job equality sees an a dark tunnel that lead to thing from the unmentionable. He sneaks off to the tunnel to mess with this box that he found while roaming the tunnels one night.
Ayn Rand’s Anthem starts by Equality 7-2521 saying “It is a sin to write this.” Throughout the story, Equality’s views and mindset changes, he realizes that he is different from his brothers and its ok to be different. He discovers that if something is legal it is not certainly right. His eager for knowledge taught him the word “I” abandoning the word “We”.
Anthem is a science fiction novella written by Ayn Rand and is a story about finding one's individuality, which is important because it allows a person to stand out in a crowd and teaches one to not just follow someone else. A person needs to learn that it is acceptable to be different and once one realizes that, they need to use it for good and positive reasons. Society broadcasts that it is unacceptable to be different and that there is a specific way to live; however, Ayn Rand writes about how one can defy this standard. Equality used to think that he had to be equal to everyone else and follow the rules in order to survive in society. In the book it says “We are one in all and all in one.
“I am. I think. I will.” (Rand, A. (1938). Anthem.
Growing up in a country that fears communism as a four year old fears the monster under the bed, I have experienced my fair share of paranoia and concern when it comes to collectivist societies. However, my reaction to the communistic ideals before reading works by Ayn Rand has been to avoid. After being exposed to first-hand activism by Rand, I have become more intrigued by the exposure and prevention of such societies as seen in Anthem and The Fountainhead. As the U.S. continues to change into a different take on democracy, I have been inspired to avert the form of communism, oppression, and collectivism preached in Rand’s
Collectivism and Selfishness in Anthem Imagine living in a world where everybody's lives are completely mapped out by the government. Where every decision is made without the input of the citizens it affects. In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand depicts a completely collectivist society, where every idea, action, and invention is purely for the benefit of society as a whole. Everything is done with the entire population in mind, and individuality is extremely frowned upon.
Atlas Shrugged is a book written by Ayn Rand, published in 1957. The book was written during the post World War II and Cold War era, in which the trends of modern intellectual culture played a major role in Rand’s writing. The overlying theme woven through the book is that without the independent mind, our society would collapse into a chaotic society. In sum, Atlas Shrugged is a defense on the freedom of a mind’s mind. Rand uses key character’s in Atlas Shrugged such as John Galt, Hank Rearden, and Dagny Taggart.
Upon first hearing the story of the fateful night of Kitty Genovese and her brutal murder, the room for speculation on the part of the neighbors seems to be slim. Thirty-eight people chose, during this situation, to see or hear what was going on but then did nothing. One could seemingly argue—and very easily—this is immoral and unethical. This assumption is based on a pre-set societal standard. A standard that was made by people who may not have necessarily ever been in such a situation.
Collectivism is a failed ideology. There has never been a successful collectivist society and there never will be, save those in works of fiction. That being said, any time collectivism is portrayed with any degree of accuracy such as in Ayn Rand’s Anthem, the society must be portrayed as the tyranny that it is. As with every work of fiction however, there are always people who will believe that certain elements of that fiction will be viable in the real world, regardless of how many times they fail. Anthem depicts a collectivist society in which all people are attempted to be made equal and all forms of innovation are completely controlled by the shadowy government and the council of scholars.
In Ayn Rand’s argument, she says “The ethics of altruism prescribes that we sacrifice our interests and lives for the good of others.” This is true as we see it, Altruism is a way of living, but when living this lifestyle, one will never be happy. Ayn Rand also says “Ethical egoism prescribes that we seek our own happiness exclusively, and as such it is consistent with the happiness goal.” We also know this is a way to live. Ayn Rand’s intent of the argument was to show that selfishness is a way to live.
Equality’s society at the end of the story wouldn’t include any of the rules of the city because in the old society they did not allow them to have their own thoughts or explore their own unique nature. Everything they did had to be equal, they could not favor this over that, prefer this that than that and etc. They even had a social hall, which is ironic because none of them were social, they all stayed with their own. Their society demonstrates the evilness of a dictatorship by not allowing them to show any individuality through anything, not through thought, writing or anything else to have in our society. Unlike their society we have the ability to be our own person, have our own thoughts, write and do other things that make up who we are
Howard Roark is the ultimate embodiment of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism. Objectivism advocates for the rejection of altruism and the pursuit of self-happiness, which is precisely how Roark lives his life. According to Rand, Roark “struggles for the integrity of his creative work against every form of social opposition.” Roark is Rand’s depiction of the ideal human being due to his indefectible pursuance of rational self-interest. Rand regards as ideal for a human being because he is the epitome of a freethinker.
Rand’s second point under being selfless is that in order to help someone, the most selfless act, one must evaluate the situation and determine what and how many resources they would be willing to utilize. She uses time, effort, and money as examples of what a person would need to consider while determining whether it would be in the lovers best interest to help. Her fear is that if these factors are not taken into consideration, people with Agapic love would be treated like a doormat. That is the major flaw with this objection, helping others without expectations of benefiting one’s own self is not being a doormat, it is being a right, honest, and acceptable human. Although I don’t think a person must give up everything they have for another
The philosopher Ayn Rand believed that an individual’s life is of the utmost importance, as is her well-being. She knew that altruistic ethics require individuals to sacrifice their own wellbeing and lives for the sake of others. With ethical egoism, and will value their own wellbeing above all others. So, she was for ethical egoism. Ayn Rand also had an argument against ethical egoism believing it is a mistake to treat the interest of some individuals as being less important than the interest of others.
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