I'm happy to admit that it's a rhetorical device designed to encourage further reflection and analysis; back during my philosophy days that was a big part of wh

I'm happy to admit that it's a rhetorical device designed to encourage further reflection and analysis; back during my philosophy days that was a big part of what I learned to do (and this is by no means the most outrageous position I've explained -- that crown probably goes to the day I argued for post-natal "70th-trimester" abortions as a critique of expansive parental/governmental rights over teenagers). But the similarity is beguiling, and points not only to issues in the statement of Objectivism itself but also to the emotional influence Rand's youth had on her allegedly purely-rational theories. Both of these are common enough critiques in actual philosophic circles, but depressingly absent from "internet Objectivism" (a close cousin of internet libertarianism, another troubled philosophy).