Essay on Rand's Ideas

Why should students help pick up fellow classmate's books that he or she dropped? Why should people give to the homeless? Why should humans become organ donors? Altruism is defined as a person's ability to go out of their way to enhance the welfare of someone else without anything in return. But it's not the "what" of altruism that is intriguing, it's the "why" that is truly fascinating. Scientist and researches may never pinpoint what makes humans exhibit altruistic behavior, but there is one thing that scientist and researches are sure about. Altruism plays an important role in running society, and the world can use more of it.

“The word "We" is as lime poured over men, which sets and hardens to stone, and crushes all beneath it, and that which is white and that which is black are lost equally in the grey of it. It is the word by which the depraved steal the virtue of the good, by which the weak steal the might of the strong, by which the fools steal the wisdom of the sages” (Rand 66). Anthem is a science fiction book written by Ayn Rand. This book takes place in a futuristic time in which freedom and individual rights have been demolished and substituted by collectivism. Equality 7-2521 has a different perspective on reality than the rest of society and therefore searches to find his way despite many hardships. Within Equality 7-2521’s exploration, he is able to

The ethics of helping is a commitment to help others and not be in competition with the dog eat dog world. The value conflicts are the disagreements brought on by the differences in values and the value dilemmas are situations where the competing value makes it impossible to choose correctly.

Ayn Rand’s ideology centralizes on the idea that total human individuality is absolute and is obtained only by means of reason, self-esteem, and total worship of virtues. Atlas Shrugged ideal hero, John Galt, is the major example of objectivism and its complex layers. He is the symbol of no guilt, no fear, no submission, and no doubt in the value of the mind. Henceforth, John Galt is the reality that lies behind any human; the use of reason and self-interest as the motor for the improvement of the world; and, in consequence, the natural right to live by the power of thinking.

“It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil” (17). Equality 7-2521 was born into a society that portrays a totalitarian rule. The people living in the controlled environment have been taught and brainwashed to know only one thing: the priority of the group over the individual person. Equality 7-2521 is one of the few people raised in the world of collectivism that is born different – filled with curiosity, gifted with intelligence; the difference leads him to believe he is cursed and evil. He was ashamed of his unique qualities and believed that he was a flaw. It is this divergence that makes him believe there is an initial

Ayn Rand's Anthem shows us her view of our world united under what seems to be communist rule. For example their view of right and wrong; which Anthem portrays is a system of very strict rules which mainly make sure that everyone is involved in a collective role within the society in this system no one is considered an individual or that they can even think as an individual.

brought them for a civilization where the word ?I? did not exist to a world

Ayn Rand’s Anthem challenges the prevailing wisdom that selflessness and sacrifice are morally superior to selfishness and self-interest. In the 1937 novel, Rand depicts a future in which individual identity is erased and all action is collective in nature. The word ‘I’ has been eradicated and all people use the plural ‘We’ to refer to themselves, as it is the concept of self that a society based on selflessness must destroy. In Anthem, the banishment of individualism leads to severe dystopian consequences that are explored through their impact on the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, on the end of innovation in society, and as the basis for the collapse of society itself into a totalitarian dictatorship.

“My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose” (Rand, 95). Anthem is written by American author Ayn Rand about Equality 7-2521 on his quest for happiness. The novel is set in an unspecified time and place in the future. Years after human civilization has gone through a deconstruction in which all knowledge was lost and a new society established with no concept of the individual. “The novel describes the efforts of the main character, Equality 7-2521, to reestablish a sense of personal identity and restore the knowledge of the past by objective scientific inquiry. In doing so, he must face many dangers and privations” (Anthem). Anthem is a dairy of the Equality

“What is not thought by all men cannot be true” is the common belief in the totalitarian world of Anthem (73). In this post-apocalyptic and altruistic society people can only exists through the service to their brothers, and individual thoughts and actions are shunned upon. Equality 2-72521 is brilliant, using technologies he found from before the “great rebirth” to formulate new conclusions about the virtually unexplored world of his time. With individualism shunned, personal thought is prohibited as well. Idiosyncrasy of anyone is looked upon as evil because it is different from other brother men, so people are bred to be and think the same. Science and technology are advanced upon with the thought of individuals coming up with new hypothesis

Vision a lifestyle where one perceives it as a sin to comprehend data more efficiently than of one’s peers; a felony to long for things that others do not wish upon. Where floods of white tunics and austere minds obliterate the Earth. A colony built upon leaders who asphyxiate anyone from infatuation of any object or significant being; moreover, a world suffocating in collectivism. Through exasperated transcription, Anthem brings about such a community; nevertheless, a world of black and white. Ayn Rand does not overemphasize the effects of totalitarianism, but amplifies it so that it is more effortless for one to enlighten he or she’s notion on the particular proposal. First, by analyzation of “Equality 7-2521”, and

Altruism refers to the concern for the welfare and well being of others without personal gains or

Ethics of Emergencies “The Ethics of Emergencies” explains Ayn Rand’s radical and unique view of altruism. She believes that there are 4 consequences of altruism, all of which are negative. These, simply put, are lack of self-esteem, lack of respect for others, a pessimistic view of life, and an indifference to ethics. She says that altruism hinders acts of true benevolence, and instead people act out of an obligation to others that has been internalized over time. Rand then argues that one should only volunteer to help strangers in emergency situations, and even then, only when the risk to one’s own life is less than the risk to the stranger’s. Rand advocates action in such emergencies because of the high value of human life. But Rand

“When one acts on pity against justice, it is the good whom one punishes for the sake of the evil; when one saves the guilty from suffering, it is the innocent whom one forces to suffer.”

Philosophy is amongst the most difficult and challenging subjects anyone can discuss. Philosophy has changed throughout the years and it can be inquiring and critical. Most philosophers have different theories on how the world should be and there are many issues and questions that arise. What is real; what is truth; what is the good; is the mind something separate from the body; and are we free, or are our actions determined so that we no longer have any control or influence? Immanuel Kant and Ayn Rand are two Philosophers that are respected for their different philosophies. Their lives, influences, and thoughts of how we should be as a society are ideas that make them so different.