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I fail to see the irony of "inheriting" an empire from Rand, when the protagonist of atlas shrugged and other main characters were heirs to a fortune. Inheritan

by jonfw 2y ago

I fail to see the irony of "inheriting" an empire from Rand, when the protagonist of atlas shrugged and other main characters were heirs to a fortune. Inheritance is thoroughly explored in her work. To me- this article is about the social dangers of taking a philosophy to the extreme, and about how easy it is to take advantage of the elderly when estranged.

bigstrat2003 2y ago
The thing that I felt came through in this article (or maybe it's just my biases) was the hollowness of engaging in relationships purely for one's own selfish ends. Sooner or later (as happened to these people), the selfish desires don't line up any more, and the relationships get torn apart. Contrary to Rand, I don't think that love is inherently selfish (quite the opposite in fact), and it seems to me that love based on altruism is much more stable (and more praiseworthy) than love based on what the other person can do for me. But then again I would say that, so it's hard to tell if that actually is something I took away from the article or if it's just confirmation bias at play.
- ahartmetz 2y ago
  IMO: In the end, everything we do is out of inner motivation, and love is no exception, so: all selfish. But that is not to be taken too literally - being unselfish can feel good, too, and is therefore "selfish". Rand's recognizing moral character or whatever as the base of love seems completely random, not how any of that works. We're smart animals! Biological creatures. We need to reproduce. It gets messy.
n4r9 2y ago
The quote I think you're referring to: > like many tragedies, this one is marked by a dark irony: A man devoted to the principle of individualism has ended up living a life defined by a reliance on others. The irony is that Peikoff believed himself an advocate of individualism, while simultaneously subjugating himself, saying stuff like “I would let her step on my face if she wanted.”

by jonfw 2y ago

bigstrat2003 2y ago

The thing that I felt came through in this article (or maybe it's just my biases) was the hollowness of engaging in relationships purely for one's own selfish ends. Sooner or later (as happened to these people), the selfish desires don't line up any more, and the relationships get torn apart. Contrary to Rand, I don't think that love is inherently selfish (quite the opposite in fact), and it seems to me that love based on altruism is much more stable (and more praiseworthy) than love based on what the other person can do for me. But then again I would say that, so it's hard to tell if that actually is something I took away from the article or if it's just confirmation bias at play.

ahartmetz 2y ago
IMO: In the end, everything we do is out of inner motivation, and love is no exception, so: all selfish. But that is not to be taken too literally - being unselfish can feel good, too, and is therefore "selfish". Rand's recognizing moral character or whatever as the base of love seems completely random, not how any of that works. We're smart animals! Biological creatures. We need to reproduce. It gets messy.

n4r9 2y ago

The quote I think you're referring to: > like many tragedies, this one is marked by a dark irony: A man devoted to the principle of individualism has ended up living a life defined by a reliance on others. The irony is that Peikoff believed himself an advocate of individualism, while simultaneously subjugating himself, saying stuff like “I would let her step on my face if she wanted.”