Objectivism 101

Diana Mertz Hsieh Lecture Six: Spiritual Fuel Friday, July 5, 2002 13 th Annual Summer Seminar of The Objectivist Center

Objectivism 101 Schedule

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Sunday Monday Philosophy Reality and Reason Tuesday Life and Happiness Wednesday The Virtues Thursday Friday Individual Rights Spiritual Fuel

Aesthetics

 Aesthetics is the study of the nature and purpose of art  What is art?

 Why do we need art?

 How should we evaluate art?

Why Bother With Aesthetics?

 Aesthetics is the study of the nature and purpose of art  Three reasons to bother: – Art serves a similar function as philosophy – Understanding your own preferences in art – Integration of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics

What is Art?

 Art is the selective recreation of reality according to the artist’s metaphysical value judgments  Primary forms of art: Painting, Music, Sculpture, Literature

Metaphysical Value Judgment

 Metaphysical value judgments are deeply held philosophical views about the nature of the universe, of mankind, and of the relationship between the two  Deep implicit philosophy  Sense of life

Abstract and Concrete

 Perceptual awareness is concrete knowledge particular things in the world  Conceptual awareness is abstract knowledge of the world  We need to be able to connect our abstract knowledge of the world with our perceptual experience of it – Real-life examples in philosophy – Art

Abstract and Concrete

“Art is a concretization of metaphysics. Art brings man's concepts to the perceptual level of his consciousness and allows him to grasp them directly, as it they were percepts.” -- Ayn Rand,

The Romantic Manifesto

A Vision of Life

“Regardless of the nature or content of an artist’s metaphysical views, what an art work expresses, fundamentally, under all of its lesser aspects is ‘

This

is life as

I

see it.’ The essential meaning of a viewer’s or reader’s response , under all of its lesser elements, is: ‘

This

is (or is

not

) life as I see it.’” -- Ayn Rand,

The Romantic Manifesto

What is Good Art?

 Metaphysical evaluations concern the philosophical ideals represented in the work  Aesthetic evaluations concern the skill by which those ideals have been represented  Emotional response versus rational judgment

Aesthetics

 Aesthetics is the study of the nature and purpose of art – What is art?

– Why do we need art?

– How can we judge art?

Three Cultures

 Pre-Enlightenment Culture  Enlightenment Culture  Anti-Enlightenment Culture  Recommended Listening: Alan Kors’

The Birth of the Modern Mind

(via The Teaching Company)

Enlightenment Culture

 Reason  Happiness  Human achievement and progress  Individualism  Freedom and trade Examples: Voltaire, Thomas Paine, John Locke, T.J Rodgers, Alan Kors, Ayn Rand

Pre-Enlightenment Culture

 Faith  Duty and sacrifice  Hard work  Family values  Authority and tradition  Paternalistic and pragmatic capitalism

Anti-Enlightenment Culture

 Skepticism, nihilism, mysticism  Communal self-expression  Anti-technology, anti-progress  Egalitarianism  Anti-capitalism

Bushland versus Goreland

 Bush counties in red / Gore counties in blue

Cultural Demographics

Percentage of United States:  Pre Enlightenment “Heartlanders”: 29%  Anti Enlightenment “Cultural Creatives”: 24%  Enlightenment “Moderns”: 47% (Source: "The Emerging Culture" by Paul H. Ray in

American Demographics

, Feb 1997.)

Enlightenment Culture

 Reason  Happiness  Human achievement and progress  Individualism  Freedom and trade  Defending the Enlightenment near you: – Web site: http://www.dianahsieh.com

– E-mail: [email protected]

Objectivism as a System

 Metaphysics: reality  Epistemology: reason  Ethics: rational self-interest  Politics: individual rights  Aesthetics: spiritual fuel

Issues in Objectivism

 Romantic love  Irrational people  Family relations  Monopolies  Pollution  Objectivism in academia  Abortion  Animal rights  Public schooling  Intuitions  Ethics of emergencies  Instinct  Duty  Faith  Mercy  Racism  Homosexuality  Poverty  Sense of life  Moral habits  Femininity and masculinity  Social metaphysics  Rationalization  Mixed economy  Aristotle  Kant  Monogamy and polyamory  Appeasement  Compromise  Recommended reading