I recently finished reading Ayn Rand's classic novel,
The Fountainhead.
Though I was immersed in the plot and interested in the characters, I read the novel with a twinge (sometimes it was more like a convulsive twitch) of doubt. The novel is not overtly allegorical, but all the elements are there. And they all combine to guide (maybe "strongarm" is a better term) readers to an understanding of Rand's thesis (something I prefer not to find in novels). To her credit, away from the pages of
The Fountainhead, she never tried to deny her theory nor her use of novels (including another classic,
Atlas Shrugged) as vehicles to express her philosophy.
In fact, she was so open about her philosophical ideals, that she founded her own school of philosophical thought: Objectivism.
Ayn Rand summarizes Objectivism like this:
"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."
This philosophy is exhibited full force in
The Fountainhead through the glorification of Howard Roark, an architect who flouts societal norms to pursue personal achievement. Roark is the "fountainhead" to which the title refers, the source from which all things flow. Why? Because he is willing to put himself first, to ignore the expectations of others and pursue only that which matters to him. His selfishness is glorified as a way of being true to oneself. (It's no surprise that Rand also wrote a book titled "The Virtue of Selfishness.")
Objectivism is still championed today by the Ayn Rand Institute, which, according to its website(
http://www.aynrand.org ), has a "two-pronged strategy" (it never specifies for what goal this "strategy" is designed) that includes "educational programs" to enable the institute to "find, train, and support individuals who thoroughly understand Ayn Rand's ideas" and "outreach programs" through which Rand's works are "disseminated...to the general public."
Wow, what kind of author wouldn't crave that kind of PR? Though unfortunately for her, Rand isn't alive to reap the financial benefits. She passed away in 1982, roughly eight months before I was born--not that this information is relevant in any way.
I'm not going to say that Ayn Rand's philosophy is wrong (at least, I won't say that so definitively), and I certainly won't claim that it is entirely lacking in merit. Rand was wiser than I ever will be; in Objectivism, she created something grandiose, something that could only be conceived in the mind of an introspective, observational, and extremely astute thinker.
But, that doesn't make her right.
Stephen Hawking, for example, might be able to write a confounding dissertation refuting the existence of gravity; he could espouse theories, formulas, theorems, and all kinds of data that would boggle my mind. Yet, even though I would never claim to be smarter, more capable of significant and profound thought, than Stephen Hawking, I could know that his thesis was wrong. Because he formed it on a faulty premise, one that doesn't allow for the existence of gravity.
Rand's philosophy, I would suggest, is also formed on a faulty premise--one that doesn't allow for the existence of God.
Taken from the Ayn Rand Institute's website, here are the essentials of Objectivism (Feel free to skip over number 4):
1. Reality exists as an objective absolute--facts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes, or fears.
2. Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses) is man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.
3. Man--every man--is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.
4. The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man's rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.
source:
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_intro(And that is just the "Introduction.")
As I said earlier, I'm not going to argue that her whole theory is bogus. (For example, how can one argue with the suggestion that "facts are facts--independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes, or fears"?) But, again, I think her premise is flawed.
Rand's theory clearly does not allow for the existence of God. On the same ARI website mentioned above, within the "Essentials of Objectivism," one can find statements such as "Thus Objectivism rejects any belief in the supernatural" and "Thus Objectivism rejects mysticism," defining mysticism as "any acceptance of faith or feeling as a means of acquiring knowledge," and "Thus Objectivism rejects any form of determinism, the belief that man is a victim of forces beyond his control," which is then classified to include "God" as one of the forces beyond man's control.
As for the Christian idea of living one's life for God...a response to this can be found in Rand's view of ethics, which states "Thus Objectivism rejects any form of altruism--the claim that morality consists in living for others or for society."
These ideas become more interesting to me when I consider what 1 John 4:16 says:
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him" (NIV).
God is love. In the light of Ayn Rand's philosophy, it is interesting to think about this verse, because while Objectivism clearly does not allow for the existence of God, it also (not so coincidentally) leaves no room for the existence of love.
Of course the rejection of love isn't openly stated (Nowhere does it say, "Thus Objectivism rejects the belief in love..."). But think about it:
Point 1 says "Reality exists in facts."
Point 2 says that reason is the key to knowledge, and it limits reason to ideas that can be derived from the five senses.
Point 3 states that man exists only for himself.
Point 4 really just promotes Capitalism (undoubtedly because Rand barely escaped from newly Communist Russia in 1925).
Based on the first 3 points (the 4th point has no bearing on a conversation about any emotion, or things regarding man's individual experiences, since it is more concerned with man as an organized, cooperative body), I challenge anyone to find something in Rand's philosophy that allows for love. Reason? Is love reasonable? Reality, facts? What can be factual about love?
Love can't be directly connected to the ability to taste, touch, smell, see, or hear. Love can't be perfectly categorized, accurately measured, or even adequately compared. (How can one know what "love" feels like to another? It would be like knowing how much someone else enjoys the taste of lobster, or pistachio-flavored ice cream.)
I know these arguments could be made for other strong emotions, but I think there is a difference. Anger, for example, usually can be traced to a recognizable source. Love's origin is not nearly as easy to pinpoint. We also can feel love, sometimes inexplicably, for family members with whom our relationships are strained. Why? How?
Personally, I believe love might be the one emotion that exists completely detached from reason. No one decides to love someone because it's prudent, reasonable, the most logical step for achieving one's future goals. (Some might choose to marry for these reasons, but not to love.)
Though love can't be proven scientifically, or even philosophically (at least, I don't think it can), few would argue that love doesn't exist. Not even Ayn Rand would suggest this, regardless of what her philosophy says (or doesn't say). I can say this because even Howard Roark, Rand's "fountainhead," her "ideal man," acknowledges love for two people in her novel. How her ideal man can love, when he is supposed to function solely through the machinery of reason, is something she never bothers to explain. I would contend that it is something she can't explain. Because it just doesn't fit.
And this is where Objectivism breaks down. Love exists. None can prove it, but we know it to be true.
God's existence is something that I know I have felt, and something I can't prove. But God's existence is something I know to be true (And I don't mean "relativistic truth," as if it isn't true for others. I just mean I can't say I know that they know it to be true. One can't be certain about what others "know.") But God's existence is something I have felt deeply and truly, sort of like the way I feel love for (and from) my family, friends, and Barbie. I think there is an explanation for why these feelings are similar, and it goes back to 1 John: 4:16:
"God is love."
And I think everyone has felt that on some level, whether they know it or not. I don't think anyone can find fulfillment or purpose in Objectivism, in the idea that our own happiness should be our "moral purpose in life," that "productive achievement" is our "noblest activity," or even that "reason" is the only "absolute."
Because love is absolute; love is real. And God is love. To deny God is to deny love, and to deny love is to deny God. Either way, without God and without love, we would be left with nothing but ourselves. We would be left with only our ability to reason, our ability to achieve, and our own personal pursuit of happiness. We would be incapable of transcending Rand's doctrine of selfishness; we would be left with Objectivism.
If this were really the world we live in, one without God and without love, then Ayn Rand's philosophy would do a great job of categorizing and explaining it. Thankfully for all of us (despite what her theory claims), hers isn't a world of reality, but a product of her own construction.
Sort of like the impressive buildings designed by her beloved protagonist, her manifestation of Objectivism, architect Howard Roark.
As for Howard Roark, I admit I liked him. He demanded my admiration as I observed his resolve, hard-nosed determination, and unwavering belief in himself. I respected his unwillingness, or inability, to compromise.
And yet, I always felt that twinge, that convulsive twitch, of doubt. Howard Roark was created by Ayn Rand to exemplify a life lived rationally, relying solely on reason, but I couldn't escape the feeling that, page after page, no matter how hard Rand tried to make him real (and she often tried very hard, with long-winded diatribes that would promptly be edited down if the book were written today), Howard Roark just wasn't believable.
And that's because Howard Roarks do not exist in reality. Neither does Ayn Rand's Objectivism.
Thank God.
--Thanks for Reading.
Note: If this were a book review, I would recommend
The Fountainhead. It was Rand's philosophy with which I found contention. The story itself was intriguing and refreshing in many ways. I tried to refrain from providing too much plot detail in order to preserve the novelty for any prospective readers. If you're interested in reading it, don't let me discourage you. I enjoyed it.
(Above: This picture isn't all that clear, but I'm not strangling her, if that's what you're thinking. I forget what this place was called, but this photo was taken at the beachfront restaurant at our resort. We ate lunch here almost every day.)
(Above: Relaxation Pool)
(Left: I think we just got done eating a lot, although that could be true for most of our pictures.)
(Left: This is a picture of the underground river that Barbie and I floated down. We didn't actually take a picture of this, so I found this one online. Sorry it's not a great shot.)
(Above: Some of the Mayan ruins within Xcaret.)
(Above: Us standing by some of the Mayan Ruins at Xcaret.)
(Above: One of the many iguanas we saw while in Mexico. This was the best picture we took of one of them, probably because this was one of the few times I let Barbie have the camera.)
(Above: Another picture with the same iguana. This shows how big some of them were.)
(Above: I think this picture was taken after dinner, and judgding by the reddish tint to our skin, I think it was our final night in Cozumel.)
(Above: One of the days we rented a jeep and drove all the way around the island. You can see a little bit of the lingering hurricane damage that Cozumel sustained.)
(Above: Barbie looking beautiful.)
