who has read The Fountainhead?

[Danteyoyo]

One might assume that the objectivist has read it? I could be wrong. I'm about half way through it and I am blown away. Thoughts from anyone else?

[JamesSavik]

It's what YOU think that matters. Other peoples opinions are simply irrelevant because as an objectivist you know your own mind.

 

Just as a creators reward is in the creation, an explorer's reward is in the discovery.

[Myr]

I've read Atlas Shrugged, which is quite good.

[Danteyoyo]

I've read Atlas Shrugged, which is quite good.

 

That's next on my reading list. What did you think? I agree that is is all about that I think because reality and I exist indipendently from eatch other. However: how can I follow objectivisum if I must stand for what I believe independent from everything else? All I have to go on are my perceptions and interpretations of reality. I have interpreted objectivism and found it to be logical, but I must by default put my own interpretation on it to make it align with who I am. Right?

[PrivateTim]

Who hasn't??

[Rizan]

I've read Anthem; I tried reading the Fountainhead but I was being extra lazy. Anthem is really good but I guess The Fountainhead is supposed to be her best. Personally I don't agree fully with her philosophy but I can agree with certain aspects.

[thatboyChase]

i've read harry potter and was captivated from the start.

[jon-jon]

i've read harry potter and was captivated from the start.

 

And the relevance to the topic is . . . ?

[thatboyChase]

And the relevance to the topic is . . . ?

 

does ayn rand have a theme park? f**k no

[Rizan]

does ayn rand have a theme park? f**k no

 

Capitalism: The Ride

 

I can see it now.

[JamesSavik]

Capitalism: The Ride

 

I can see it now.

 

Sounds like fun to me but the liability lawyers will never let it happen.

[Rizan]

Sounds like fun to me but the liability lawyers will never let it happen.

 

I see it being a roller coaster at a six flags park; full of ups and downs, twists and turns, and loops and spins until it ultimately derails at the end, crashing into the Democracy water ride.

[JamesSavik]

I see it being a roller coaster at a six flags park; full of ups and downs, twists and turns, and loops and spins until it ultimately derails at the end, crashing into the Democracy water ride.

 

It's no fun unless you hurl.

[Danteyoyo]

I was hoping for more then two real answers. Didn't realize I was back in the fourth grade.

[Benji]

I was hoping for more then two real answers. Didn't realize I was back in the fourth grade.

 

..........Hahaha! I read that sooooooo long ago, the only thing I remember of it was that it dealt with an Architect.

[Tomas]

I've read "The Fountainhead", "Anthem", "We The Living", and Atlas Shrugged". I've watched and have in my movie collection the 1949 movie that was made of "The Fountainhead" with Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey.

 

I enjoyed each every one of the books and the movie.

 

Whether or not I agree with Ayn Rands philosophy is totally irrelevant to my enjoyment of the books and film.

Edited June 6, 2010 by Tomas

[gabrielsknife]

Now, I've not read the Fountainhead, but I have read Anthem. I was rather young when I read it too (middle school); when I finished it, my home-room teacher began reading "The Giver" (a tame, children's book that ended up freaking me out *because* of the similar theme it shared with "Anthem".)

 

I had a copy of Atlas Shrugged, but I was too lazy to read it. Ayn Rand is a bit of a handful, in terms of...well, everything! Theme, rationale, etc. Anthem blew my young mind up, scattered the pieces on the floor, then put a blindfold around my eyes and said "pick up the pieces". I haven't read another Rand book since.

 

Now, that's not to say she's a bad writer. I think many people should read her works! If nothing else, to gain the glimpse of another person's perspective. But my frontal lobe seizes up when I come near one of her books. Good writer, deep thinker, I'm just still trying to digest the first book ten years later.

 

(I believe there was a Simpson's spoof of the Fountainhead. This is just about all I personally know about Fountainhead: uniformity is bad, but we're going to take all the creative people away to show how much worse the world can get. Or, am I confusing this for Atlas Shrugged?)

[W_L]

I've read it several times, but I am not an objectivist.

 

Fountainhead is a good novel nonetheless, it asks unique questions on the concept of creativity and aesthetics. Aesthetics is a cornerstone to Rand's Objectivism, which redraws the line of philosophical truth to make the individuality unique.

 

Though, basing a life on aesthetics is kind of sad as only you can enjoy such a reality, while the universe around you is truncated on principles of entanglement. Entangling truths and thoughts make any joy derived from such objective pursuits shortlived.

[JamesSavik]

Ayn Rand was born in Russia during the Bolshevik revolution. Her father had been a businessman and of course the commies took everything that they owned. She barely escaped.

 

All of her writing have the dominate theme of individualism vs collectivism.

 

In Anthem the main character's big moment was when he discovered the idea of "I" or individuality. Previously everything had been "we".

 

In the Fountainhead a major turn in the plot was when the court ruled that Roarke's work was his own and could not be used for the public good in the design of Courtland Estates. (Gary Cooper is awesome as Howard Roarke).

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW7fJ7JDBk4

 

In Atlas Shrugged Rand's vision takes on its largest scope when the producers of society get fed up with the parasites and leave and let everything collapse.

 

I'm not sure if I am an objectivist per see but I like her ideas. Man does not exist for the benefit of other men. He exists for himself and one of the reasons that society is so f**ked up is that too damned many people have forgotten that essential truth.

 

When you hear people saying we need or we should, run like hell. When someone presumes to speak for the masses, he sees himself as their better, their overseer and their master. The collectivist wants to control a heard and can not tolerate the presence of a lion.

 

I can not imagine being anything but a lion.

[W_L]

The biggest problem with Objectivism comes from the concept of "I" or individuality. If you take the "individual" human being concept too far, you will have a guy living in the woods somewhere completely alone. Yes, the individual can "survive" the world, but progress and civilization will be lost.

 

In Ayn's counter against collectivism, she created a model of belief that far too many trusted without questioning the outcome. While collectivism is to Communism; Individualism is to Anarchism.

 

@James: I am a classic conservative, I feel that Ayn Rand ushered in a corrupting virus within the field of conservatism, which the anti-commune conservatives decades ago never understood or saw. Today's conservatives are closer to Anarchist than they are to principles or values in human logic and potential.

 

In human Civilization, we, as a species, have to work together for common goals. It's less collectivism and more on the concept of entanglement. We need to work on the concept of inter-independence rather than pure independence.

[JamesSavik]

Rand's vision is certainly not about survivalist holing up in a cabin in the woods.

 

It is much more about a more equitable transaction between the individual and society.

 

In her books, Rands protagonists have been creators and producers and her antagonists have been petty little would-be dictators like Ellsworth Toohey who think that achievement and greatness are an affront to the rest of humanity.

 

History is littered with people like this. They were the Pharisees and the Inquisitors. They are the ones who wanted to burn Jenner at the stake for proposing the concept of vaccination or refuse to teach Darwin's theory in public school because it upset the "public order". They are the same ones who thought that Plato had discovered all of science that would ever be needed. They are the ones that wanted to put out Galileo's eyes because they saw past the Church's dogma and revealed a world that their bible and doctrine could not explain or control.

 

They are the people that want to chain humanity and close the horizon. They believe that there are no new worlds to conquer so they must conquer man.

 

No one remembers their names. They only serve power and ignorance.

 

Everyone remembers Galileo because he discovered a world changing truth and had the courage and independence of thought to stay with it despite the real physical danger.

 

Rand's protagonists are all about new worlds and new horizons and will drag the rest of humanity there with them kicking and screaming.

[Persinette]

This comic is my basic opinion on Ayn Rand's novels and philosophy. Edited June 11, 2010 by Persinette

[glomph]

I've never read her books, but I did see the movie The Fountainhead, and it has certainly been one of the most influential movies in terms of affecting my life and thought. The architect and later QAF's Brian Kenney have been somewhat role models for me, even though I don't find them particularly likable or admirable characters. While I like approval and affirmation from other people, I don't see altering my values, etc., in a significant way to seek them. As Jimmy Buffet says, "You have to follow your own weird."

 

I am rather self-centered and deep down I believe that the universe revolves around me, but I don't think I'd really get into Rand's philosophy. Everybody in the US and many in the rest of the world have been affected by her through the person of her friend Alan Greenspan.

 

As a practical matter, when the yellow mask drops down, it makes sense to follow the airlines' advice to put on one's own make first, and then help others with theirs. I think that approach may work as a more general rule.