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I understand what you're saying and I agree with it, but it hurts to see Ayn Rand mentioned along with actual philosophers and economists (even Marx, who's larg
by WaxProlix 11y ago
I understand what you're saying and I agree with it, but it hurts to see Ayn Rand mentioned along with actual philosophers and economists (even Marx, who's largely out of favor in the political and academic realms these days).
There's this sense of necessary equality of the ends of a spectrum (sort of like the two-sides-to-every-story fallacy), and Rand gets to sit on one end of that spectrum as its de facto representative, garnering some kind of scholarly-econo-philosophical legitimacy in the process. It rankles.
- shkkmo 11y agoI wouldn't call either Rand or Max a philosopher. I would be more inclined to call Rand a poet and Marx an economist. (I must admit I am much less familiar with Marx's writings). I place them in opposition to each other mostly because of their rather unique ability to instantly draw the ire of one large segment of the population while rallying another.
- nyolfen 11y agomarx is definitely a philosopher in the hegelian tradition -- dialectical materialism is his great contribution. i wouldn't say it's inaccurate to describe him as an economist, though