tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post1133837186036133403..comments2023-12-28T06:30:48.808-05:00Comments on The Rule of Reason: From the Academy to Atlas Shrugged: An AppreciationUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-49406375573145594032009-04-07T20:31:00.000-04:002009-04-07T20:31:00.000-04:00Hi Ed,Thanks for the reply, All the best and keep ...Hi Ed,<BR/>Thanks for the reply, <BR/>All the best and keep up the good work.Tim Rnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-12326320989117895942009-04-07T11:40:00.000-04:002009-04-07T11:40:00.000-04:00Tim R: I understand your doubts about the abrupt a...Tim R: I understand your doubts about the abrupt attention being paid to Atlas Shrugged and the effectiveness of the Tea Parties to be held on April 15th. <BR/><BR/>You're right to doubt, but one can never know in this kind of situation what will happen as a result. One can't predict any one individual's allegiance to rationality and his rational commitment to self-preservation. It's a matter of voliton, of placing the highest value on one's life and independence to live it as a free individual and acting as best one can in the circumstances. I can only speak for myself, just as only you can speak for yourself on that matter. <BR/><BR/>But, one can doubt without becoming cynical. The current popularity might or might not be, as you put it, "fleeting." The Tea Parties may or may not have any effect on Congress or any other organization. One simply cannot predict such things, since men possess volition, not only individuals being taxed and regulated by government, but also members of Congress who are doing the taxing and regulating, who may or may not take seriously the demonstrations that will take place across the country. <BR/><BR/>Peikoff is right about the difficulty of a person over the age of 30 to change his premises and sense of life even with the persussive skills of a master. But, I'm finding it just as difficult to persuade people who are complete products of the education system, individuals around the age of 30 and younger. <BR/><BR/>Like it or not, you and I and everyone else who are on "the same page" are living in a watershed period of this country's history and existence. You will need to find and have what Rand called the "moral endurance" to survive it and work to advance the cause of reason. This is what I've been doing all my life, even before I had even heard of Rand. <BR/><BR/>I cannot say that I'm optimistic about the near future. But I refuse to surrender my life and my values to the looters, the killers, and moochers without a fight. I have a breaking point, but I haven't yet reached it and don't even know what it is. <BR/><BR/>Rand also said that if one fights for the future, one is livig in it today. <BR/><BR/>EdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-32792196845925258022009-04-07T04:10:00.000-04:002009-04-07T04:10:00.000-04:00Hi Ed,I've read two of your recent articles. This...Hi Ed,<BR/><BR/>I've read two of your recent articles. This one and "On The Left-Wing Reaction to John Galt, Ayn Rand, and Tea Parties".<BR/>What struck me was that I thought both were highly optimistic. <BR/>I find it quite difficult to maintain that optimism and was wondering if you had any thoughts on your confidence in rationality prevailing and/or the development of your sense of life. <BR/>I'm quite new to Objectivism myself and was always fairly cynical as a teenager. <BR/><BR/>I've just noticed in the comments that Atlas Shrugged was the #1 best seller on Amazon this week and that's definitely a very good thing, but I'm not 100% convinced - I still think this popularity could easily be fleeting? <BR/><BR/>In addition, I'm thinking of Peikoff saying he's never observed someone over the age of 30 change a fundamental belief. Or the KGB idea that it takes at least one generation to change a culture's ideology. Considering the task at hand for Objectivist principles to become ingrained in the culture, it seems very difficult to view Ayn Rand's influence objectively.Tim Rnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-59777597772079468232009-04-05T12:40:00.000-04:002009-04-05T12:40:00.000-04:00If you want to master English grammar, learn sente...If you want to master English grammar, learn sentence diagramming.Jeffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-85213593051816017492009-04-05T05:45:00.000-04:002009-04-05T05:45:00.000-04:00Ed, My grammar, i am told, is atrocious.What i w...Ed,<BR/> My grammar, i am told, is atrocious.What i write is simply whatever english i have automatized from reading voraciously.<BR/> Since your command of the english language is excellent, please suggest a grammar primer.what about Dr.Peikoff's lecture on grammar?<BR/> I desperately want to learn as much as i can so that i can start writing.pomponazzihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15650762047420820104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-33314412147207346002009-04-05T05:42:00.000-04:002009-04-05T05:42:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.pomponazzihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15650762047420820104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-54700816000843131842009-04-04T11:06:00.000-04:002009-04-04T11:06:00.000-04:00Anonymous: Re "enormity." "Wicked" or the implica...Anonymous: Re "enormity." "Wicked" or the implication of a great evil is its usual meaning, but I have encountered it in the past used in the opposite sense, as simply "great" in a neutral sense. In fact, I am about to finish rereading Arthur Quiller-Couch's "The Art of Writing," a series of lectures at Cambridge U. in the early 20th century, and he used it twice, as I recollect, in the neutral sense.<BR/><BR/>EdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-60804813251477148762009-04-03T17:04:00.000-04:002009-04-03T17:04:00.000-04:00Like Atlas Shrugged, History of the Decline and Fa...Like Atlas Shrugged, History of the Decline and Fall has so many warnings to us today...It seems those of us with the time to read and learn and receive the messages are never the ones to make the decisions....John Mizenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-11266362078488007882009-04-03T17:01:00.000-04:002009-04-03T17:01:00.000-04:00Gibbon Quote,The History of the Decline and Fall o...Gibbon Quote,<BR/>The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol 1. Not sure of the exact chapter, it has been awhile since I read it.<BR/><BR/>Ed's post struck a chord with me, and reminded me of the passage, I had to look it up online to find the exact wording, luckily someone had it up. My old copy was a paperback rehash of the 1909 printing.John Mizenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-31108552484569290392009-04-03T15:24:00.000-04:002009-04-03T15:24:00.000-04:00Ed, by coincidence, just before reading your Acade...Ed, by coincidence, just before reading your Academy essay, I read a column explaining surprising point that "enormity" actually means "wicked," NOT "prodigious" or "enormous."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-62364205349237389212009-04-03T10:35:00.000-04:002009-04-03T10:35:00.000-04:00Anonymous: Yes, 1782 is the correct date of Jeffes...Anonymous: Yes, 1782 is the correct date of Jeffeson's reply to Monroe.<BR/><BR/>Shahnawaz: I decided for sytlistic reasons not to say "Lyceum" but use Academy instead, since a lyceum was merely a building in which lectures and presumably the Academy were venued.<BR/><BR/>EdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-77416068456708224342009-04-03T04:42:00.000-04:002009-04-03T04:42:00.000-04:00Great article Ed!I think Aristotle taught at "Lyce...Great article Ed!<BR/><BR/>I think Aristotle taught at "Lyceum" not at the Academy of Plato.pomponazzihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15650762047420820104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-44343697829728229782009-04-03T02:58:00.000-04:002009-04-03T02:58:00.000-04:00What work of Gibbon's is that from?What work of Gibbon's is that from?Phoroneushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05875277758226860200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-57478908773166102292009-04-02T19:47:00.000-04:002009-04-02T19:47:00.000-04:00"In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they w..."In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all -- security, comfort, and freedom. When ... the freedom they wished for was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free." -- Sir Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)<BR/>It seems we are headed the way of the Athenians...John Mizenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-16718948124611487512009-04-02T19:22:00.000-04:002009-04-02T19:22:00.000-04:00Yet another excellent piece, Ed! I admit to being...Yet another excellent piece, Ed! I admit to being a little stunned bu the fact that <I>Atlas Shrugged</I> reached No. 1 on Amazon's Best Seller List this week. Stunned I may be, but also excited by the prospect.<BR/><BR/>I did have one question: you indicate the Jefferson quotation dates from <B>1782</B>. Is this correct?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-72423823711176875412009-04-02T13:45:00.000-04:002009-04-02T13:45:00.000-04:00Brilliant article Ed!I sometimes wonder whether th...Brilliant article Ed!<BR/><BR/>I sometimes wonder whether the circumstances presented about Richard Halley in the novel was a form of self-prophecy by Ayn Rand.<BR/><BR/>- Dinesh.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04636508923262021501noreply@blogger.com