Wikipedia: Objectivist philosophy/Talk

On Ward's wiki someone commented that objectivism has little creditibility among academic circles. That seems somewhat surprising, since it is a fairly popular philosophy from what I can tell, although I guess pop phi and the real thing often have little in common. Someone who knows about this sort of thing should probably add a critique of the above and explain the role of objectivism in philosophy today.

There are a small number of scholarly journals, but it is true that Objectivism lacks credibility among professional philosophers. This may be in part because they do not like Rand's ideas very much, but it probably has a lot to do with the fact the she did not present her ideas in the manner of academic philosophers: she did not use the same lingo, did not publish in the same journals, etc., and so she has been off their radar. A recent flood of scholarly books (not to mention popular books and three movies) give reason to believe this may be changing - TS

I think it's important to note that Objectivism as defined by Rand is qualified with a statement that it is _her_ belief system. For any belief to be in line with Objectivism, it by definition has to be something that Ayn Rand believes. She said this herself, and it's something that many Ojectivists don't seem to know. This might also have something to do with why it is treated so derisively by the "philisophical elite". See http://www.objectivism.org -Alan Dershowitz (no, not THAT Alan Dershowitz)

Of course another reason is arrogant poppycock like that. Yes, there is a specific philosophy laid out by Rand which she called "objectivism", so calling any other philosophy "Rand's objectivism" or "Randian" is a mistake. But no person owns the language; just because Ms. Rand and her followers want to own the word "objectivism" itself, that's no reason to think they have a right to. The word "objectivist" already had meaning to real philosophers, and still does, and their refusal to allow it to be usurped by one writer is perfectly understandable. Even if they (and others who may choose to call themselves objectivists) choose to associate the word with Rand, but expand on or correct her mistakes and call that "objectivism", that might also be a perfectly rational thing to do, because they have as much right to the word as she does. The suggestion that philosophers (especially self-described objectivists) do this because they "don't know" she didn't approve is mudslinging beneath the dignity of honest debate. --LDC

Since this is obviously a point of contention and probably has little bearing on an encyclopaedia definition of Objectivism, I'll respect the controversy clause and drop it. LDC, I don't have anything against objectivism and had no intent to subvert the neutrality of the document. My own belief system is fairly close to objectivism. I probably just dwell too much on tiny, contentious aspects of things and perhaps should adjust my thinking accordingly when writing here. A good portion of this debate stems from just how language can fairly be used, and after reading your profile I'm sure we have some philisophical differences in that area--but no mudslinging was intended. Sorry.

Just one more point? A great deal of Objectivists DO align themselves with Rand, and these were the people I was referring to. If there was an encyclopedia definition, it would probably have a lot about her in there and speak mostly of her philosophy. To most of the world, objectivism is aligned with her. Maybe someone more qualified than me should deal with the debate on this. It's confusing, but important enough to cover. - AD

First, contra LDC, Rand and her followers call themselves Objectivists, not objectivists. The word is capitalized to distinguish it from the common English word; Objectivism capitalized refers to the philosophy of Ayn Rand; objectivism not capitalized refers to various other things. Rand did not want to "own" the word 'objectivism' and would have considered such a desire to be silly.

Second, I have known a lot of Objectivists but I have never known anyone who believes that Objectivism refers only to the canonical words of Ayn Rand. Those who do hold this opinion are considered to be little more than a fringe group, despite their claims to being "official". This belief, that Objectivism is a "closed system", makes no more sense than the claim that genetics is not part of Darwinism because Darwin never wrote anything about genes. Perhaps there is a place for these distinctions in an academic study of the history of ideas, but these distinctions serve no purpose and are in fact a hindrance in the study of the ideas themselves.

The relevent question is whether there is anything within the philosophy of Objectivism that requires it to be a closed system. If there is not - and there is not - then the argument that it is a closed system need not be acknowledged in a discussion of the philosophy. - TS

?If you wonder why I am so particular about protecting the integrity of the term ?Objectivism,? my reason is that ?Objectivism? is the name I have given to my philosophy - therefore, anyone using that name for some philosophical hodgepodge of his own, without my knowledge or consent, is guilty of the fraudulent presumption of trying to put thoughts into my brain (or of trying to pass his thinking off as mine - an attempt which fails, for obvious reasons). I chose the name ?Objectivism? at a time when my philosophy was beginning to be known and some people were starting to call themselves ?Randists.? I am much too conceited to allow such a use of my name...."

?What is the proper policy on this issue? If you agree with some tenets of Objectivism, but disagree with others, do not call yourself an Objectivist; give proper authorship credit for the parts you agree with - and then indulge in any flights of fancy you wish, on your own.? [Ayn Rand, ?To the Readers of The Objectivist Forum,? The Objectivist Forum, Vol. 1, No. 1.]

http://aynrand.org/objectivism/Q1.html

-AD

Tim, I was intending to update this article a while ago with the information you allude to, but really, it's been quite a while since I've looked at any Rand-type stuff...

--LMS

In my personal opinion Objectivism isn't a philosophical viewpoint at all. Its just the political opinions of Ayn Rand and her followers, plus some added rhetoric (much of that rhetoric consists in calling her views philosophy). (I might add I have a very low opinion of Ayn Rand as a thinker.) -- Simon J Kissane

Well, you might call her work bad philosophy (though I wouldn't, and the wikipedia certainly shouldn't), but I have to suppose that if you think that her work is primarily political, you must not be very familar with the entire body of her work or the work of academic philosophers interested in her ideas. Her political ideas, while controversial and more than moderately influential, aren't nearly as well-developed in her work as her ethical ideas and her epistemological ideas.

If you're interested in taking a second look at her more strictly epistemological ideas, I recommend either of [Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology]? or the excellent academic work [Evidence Of The Senses]? by [David Kelley]?, which presents Kelley's realist views on perception, which are grounded in Rand's epistemology.

If you're interested in taking a second look at her more strictly ethical ideas, I recommend [Tara Smith]?'s book [Viable Values]?. Smith is a professor of philosophy at the [University of Texas]? and her book deals with a fuller exposition and defense of Rand's meta-ethical views. --Jimbo Wales