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Objectivism 101

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. Sunday Philosophy Monday Reality and Reason Tuesday Life and Happiness Wednesday The Virtues Thursday Individual Rights

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Objectivism 101

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  1. Objectivism 101 Diana Mertz Hsieh Lecture Six: Spiritual Fuel Friday, July 5, 2002 13th Annual Summer Seminar of The Objectivist Center

  2. Objectivism 101 Schedule • Sunday Philosophy • Monday Reality and Reason • Tuesday Life and Happiness • Wednesday The Virtues • Thursday Individual Rights • Friday Spiritual Fuel

  3. 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?

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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?

  12. Three Cultures • Pre-Enlightenment Culture • Enlightenment Culture • Anti-Enlightenment Culture • Recommended Listening: Alan Kors’ The Birth of the Modern Mind (via The Teaching Company)

  13. 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

  14. Pre-Enlightenment Culture • Faith • Duty and sacrifice • Hard work • Family values • Authority and tradition • Paternalistic and pragmatic capitalism

  15. Anti-Enlightenment Culture • Skepticism, nihilism, mysticism • Communal self-expression • Anti-technology, anti-progress • Egalitarianism • Anti-capitalism

  16. Bushland versus Goreland • Bush counties in red / Gore counties in blue

  17. 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.)

  18. 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: diana@dianahsieh.com

  19. Objectivism as a System • Metaphysics: reality • Epistemology: reason • Ethics: rational self-interest • Politics: individual rights • Aesthetics: spiritual fuel

  20. 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

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