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== Article cross-talk == | |||
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== Again, not a philosopher == | |||
Sydney Hook, a noted (conservative) American philosopher, noted elementary errors in Rand's "philosophical" 1962 work "Notes for the New Intellectual" in 1962, including the use of the analytic aPriori statement a=a to derive what Rand resoundingly yet erroneously considered profound, synthetic aPriori truths such as the value of capitalism and of selfishness, which cannot be derived from "a=a" in any way. He kindly, gently, but firmly dismissed Rand's work as being of philosophical utility. A "philosopher" is she or he who enters a conversation with people recognized as philosophers; this recursive, set-theoretic definition of philosopher is the only reasonable definition of one. <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">— Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 00:38, 6 August 2013 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:Unsigned IP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot--> | |||
:There are many sources saying she's not a philosopher, and sources saying she is. Is there some way we can edit to reflect this debate? --] (]) 09:02, 21 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::It has been a problem for some time. She is called a philosopher in a limited number of texts (a lot of which are de facto funded by by Randian institutions). There are a limited number of texts that criticise he claims in that respect - Hook is one of several. A lot of these are blog posts as in general very few Philosophers take her seriously as a Philosopher. The main evidence that she is not a philosopher is that she is not mentioned in any major directory or text book covering the field as a whole. Negative evidence is difficult to assess. Personally I think ] makes it clear that the label Philosopher should not be applied here but that resulted in a lot of nastiness and an Arbcom ruling some time ago ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 10:24, 21 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::I think the editors of the '']'' and the '']'' will be surprised to learn that they do not cover the field as a whole and are funded by Randian institutions. Den Uyl and Rasmussen will probably also be surprised to hear that they were funded by such institutions (which did not exist at the time they prepared their book). And of course the previous citations used for this point included that venerable Randian institution, '']''. The "balance" against all this really needs to be something more than wishful thinking and reading implications into silences, which is what the "many sources saying she's not a philosopher" tend to be. Hook does ''not'' say she isn't a philosopher, notwithstanding the claims of the block-evading troll who started this section. --] (]) 11:22, 21 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::The Stanford entry is one of a series of essays commissioned as you know. Routledge I would need to see the next. There is little dispute she is largely ignored by Philosphers and criticised even by her followers. She is primarily a novelist not a philosopher ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 12:56, 21 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::::Her novels are also criticized, but that doesn't make her not a novelist. I'm all for being discriminating about sources, but not for inventing seemingly arbitrary new criteria just to exclude sources that say things someone doesn't like. If you want to reject peer reviewed sources with no obvious conflicts of interest, it should be for better reasons than this. --] (]) 20:00, 21 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::In general the critics do see her as a bad novelist, but they say so. Philosophers with a few exceptions just ignore her ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 20:04, 21 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::::::RL's analogy is totally wrong because the only requirement for being a novelist is having written a novel, but philosophy has objective standards. Even the worst writer in the world is a novelist once they've completed a single, terrible novel. Although an English degree might include classes in novel-writing, you don't need a degree to write a novel or even to get it published. All it takes is basic competence with the language, and you are judged on being creative and subjectively entertaining. It's even ok to make stupid English mistakes, because publishers have copy-editors on staff. It's a bit harder to be a published novelist, although it still doesn't mean being any good, and even harder to make a living at it. Rand succeeded as a novelist. | |||
:::::::On the other hand, philosophy has an objective bar based on a certain level of academic competence in the field, which almost always comes from having degrees. Practicing philosophy requires a working knowledge of what has gone before so that you can both avoid the errors of the past and explain views by comparing and contrasting with well-known positions using common terminology. Rand had an open disregard for all philosophy since Aristotle (even though was obviously influenced by Nietzsche) and was criticized for not understanding the views she opposed, rather than (just) for being wrong. Her only degree was in education, and it shows. | |||
:::::::No matter how you slice it, Rand was not an academic philosopher, though she does fit into the Russian tradition of novelists with a philosophical bent. She had philosophical ideas which were highly influential in the world at large, but almost entirely ignored by academia. This makes her a professional writer and amateur philosopher. That's not so say she wasn't a philosopher at all or even that her philosophy was bad. It just means that this wasn't her profession and we'd be lying to readers by saying it was. ] (]) 21:51, 21 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::It is a bit odd to refer to debatable criteria such as "competence" and "working knowledge" as "objective standards". Whether someone has a published novel is far easier to evaluate objectively. Regardless, the article does not refer to Rand as an academic or professional philosopher, so we have avoided that problem. --] (]) 22:41, 21 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::::::::Ok, now we've avoided it. ] (]) 22:56, 21 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::: An evaluation of competence is always going to be subjective. I hope you keep such evalutions away from the introduction, though critisism sections could use them. And the field of philosophy seems too diverse to actually have unified standards. ] (]) 23:50, 21 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::::Agree with Dimadick, and more importantly the sources that call her a philosopher do not generally use the qualifier that MilesMoney wants to add. --] (]) 05:50, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::::::::::We obviously can't use a qualifier which is not sourced but it still leaves us the ] issue. The questions of negatives is an issue for Misplaced Pages but at the moment we have three sets of evidence (i) her not being mentioned (ii) her competence to assert the claim being questions (iii) references that use the word. So we need to find a way around that. A note might be a solution and I to be honest the word is easier to use in the body of article not the information box. So use in text with the existing citations OK and there is other material that explains things. The use in the information box, less so. A compromise would be to leave it in the lede, remove it from the info box. ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 06:47, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::::::I'm glad you brought up sources for "amateur", because we do have them. For example, according to , the ] has Anthony Quinton classifying Rand as an amateur. | |||
::::::::::::Gotta say, I'm not in love with "amateur" but at least it's sourced and it gets across the fact that she's not a philosopher in the sense someone might expect if we didn't qualify the title. Maybe we could search for sources with nicer adjectives, like "non-academic". But we can't just lie by omission. ] (]) 07:24, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::::::All righty, I confirmed that page 740 of that book does call her an amateur philosopher. If we want to avoid that term, we could also use the same reference to justify calling her a popular philosopher, which sounds nicer but might be confused with being a philosopher who's popular, as opposed to an advocate of popular (amateur) philosophy. For now, I'm going to put "amateur" back in as a placeholder, but I'll add a citation so RL has nothing to complain about. It's up to him to find a better term that's still honest. ] (]) 07:52, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::::::One last thing. I'm betting RL or someone with his views might argue that ] is some sort of strange fringe voice. That would be pretty silly, even from a glance at his background, but ] provides another vote for "amateur". On the other hand, I haven't been able to find any source claiming she was either a "professional" or "academic" philosopher, so we have to go with what we've got. ] (]) 07:59, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::::::I lied: one more thing. Snowded mentioned Rand's omission from comprehensive summaries of philosophers. I noticed that, on page x of ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', the editor specifically mentions deciding not to grant her an article in the book because he has standards. This just screams "not an (academic) philosopher". ] (]) 08:26, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::::::::::::Not necessarilly. Perhaps its my frustration with certain "peer-reviewed" sources of low quality speaking, but I have often had trouble with supposedly comprehensive lists and reviews which ommit all but the most famous female writers, rulers, and other historical figures. As an editor interested in women's history its quite a pet peeve. It screams bias ] (]) 10:12, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::::::::No, there are enough female philosophers included to rule out the idea that Rand was excluded just for being a woman. Instead, the editor reveals that he quite intentionally turned down a proposed article on Rand because it "did not penetrate fortress of philosophical principle", a coy way of saying they just didn't measure up to his standards. The other article mentioned as failing on this basis is "marital act", which was presumably about sex, not a particularly philosophical topic. ] (]) 10:33, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
{{od}}I just checked the reference which does make it explicit that she was not included. That is the first reference in a very authoritative work that says she is not a philosopher. As I say the best thing is to remove it from the information box and leave it as a qualified text in the main body? ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 08:55, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
:Between Routledge and the Oxford Companion, I believe there's strong support for the conclusion that she is not significant as a philosopher (at least within the circles of academic philosopher as opposed to popular philosophy) and is not a professional or academic philosopher at all, but an amateur one. Since she's not a philosopher by profession, I don't see why any mention of it should be made in her Occupation in the information box. | |||
:At the very least, it's completely misleading because a reader might reasonably expect that, like "regular" philosophers, she had a comprehensive, as opposed to idiosyncratic and eclectic, education in philosophy, and that she was seen by other philosophers as qualified to teach accredited courses on the subject. That's certainly what comes to ''my'' mind when I think of "philosopher", and I doubt I'm alone in this. | |||
:I think the best counterargument would be that the Nathaniel Branden Lectures were a school that taught Objectivism. However, ] says, "Not wanting to be a teacher or leader of an organized movement, she allowed Branden to lecture on her behalf." Despite this, we list Branden's occupation as "Psychotherapist", not "Philosopher". Of course, it doesn't help that NBL was unaccredited. ] (]) 09:30, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::To be honest, the first think that comes to mind when I hear philosopher is a ] charging money to supposedly teach virtue and wisdom. Followed by the image of a ] trying to make sense of contradictory dogmas and doctrines. 21st-century individuals are simply not what I picture as philosophers. ] (]) 12:03, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::All the text above notwithstanding, the source recently added (which has been discussed on this talk page before, BTW) does not in fact use the term "amateur philosopher" to describe Rand. The snipe from the editor's introduction does not use this phrase, and neither does the article on "popular philosophy" (the page 740 citation, which is offered without the courtesy of credit to the author). The latter does imply that she created an "amateur system" but doesn't call Rand, or anyone else, "amateur philosopher". Perhaps this is a quirk of the author's writing choices, but it is a fact of the plain text. So the basis for this particular phrasing is thin to say the least, particularly when the qualifier is not used by several other sources that are already cited. What is particularly ironic is that the cited article implicitly affirms Rand's classification ''as a philosopher'' (albeit not a professional one, which no one in this discussion has claimed) -- something that this thread started as an attempt to deny. | |||
:::If qualifiers are needed, the best-supported one is "popular philosopher" (an alternative mentioned above by MilesMoney). This phrase -- the literal phrase, not an inference of it -- is used in sources. Even the source added to prop up "amateur" designates amateur philosophy as a sub-class of popular philosophy. The phrase is already used in the body of the article, with a source, so it would also conform to ], which tells us that the lead should summarize material from the body rather than include significant information not found in the body. --] (]) 12:25, 22 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::No, that argument doesn't even begin to fly and only makes me wonder about how ] you are. The source says she's an amateur, plain and simple. No amount of hairsplitting original research on your part is going to explain away how an amateur philosophy comes from anyone but an amateur philosopher. Oh, and the citation you removed was for Honderich's comment on page x, not just Quinton's on 740, so that's another error on your part. | |||
::::Regardless, I'm not going to dote on your systemtic mistakes. Instead, I'm going to remind you that I suggested "popular" but also had reservations that you failed to address. Right now, it sounds as if she's a philosopher who happened to be popular, as opposed to the writer of popular (amateur) philosophy, so the article is lying again. That just won't do. ] (]) 05:10, 23 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::::I return to my idea of removing from information box (as it really can't be justified) but keep in the main body with a proper explanation of the different views.----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 06:19, 23 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::Yeah, that's how it is now. The box calls her a writer and mentions that philosophy is her subject. By the way, the Routeledge entry is available, with hostile commentary, . ] (]) 06:29, 23 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::::::The phrase "popular philosopher" is almost always used to indicate a writer of popular philosophy, as philosophers who are popular are remarkably rare. Regardless, a phrase that has more than one interpretation is not "lying", especially when the phrasing comes directly from multiple sources, as it does (more on that below). The claim that "The source says she's an amateur" is pure ]. There are currently ''six'' sources cited around her being a philosopher. Four call her "philosopher" with no qualifier. One calls her a "popular philosopher". The fifth, which you wish to focus on exclusively, indicates she was an amateur, but does not use the phrase "amateur philosopher" and also places "amateur" as a sub-category of "popular". I was able to quickly find <s>five</s> ''seven'' additional uses of "popular philosopher" in respectable sources (reference works, journal articles and books from academic publishers): | |||
:::::::*The '']'' (published by ] and edited by ]) calls her a "novelist and philosopher" in the first sentence of its entry for her, then later says "many intellectuals continued to dismiss her as a reactionary popular philosopher". | |||
:::::::*The entry for her in the long-running ''American Writers'' reference series says, "No longer merely a best-selling novelist, Rand quickly became a popular philosopher." | |||
:::::::*''Atlas Shrugged: Manifesto of the Mind'' by ] says that novel "ended her career as a novelist and launched Rand as a popular philosopher". | |||
:::::::*''Above the Bottom Line: An Introduction to Business Ethics'' (written by ] and ], published by ]) refers to her as "The popular philosopher of 'the virtue of selfishness'". | |||
:::::::*The 2008 article "Just Deserts: Ayn Rand and the Christian Right" (written by Cynthia Burack and published in ''Journal of Religion and Popular Culture''), says "Rand is renowned as a best-selling author, a popular philosopher, and a guru who created her own system of thought and her own cult of personality." | |||
:::::::*Another from Burack (this time co-authored): an introduction to a special issue of '']'' which calls her "novelist and popular philosopher". Online and ungated . | |||
:::::::*In "The Challenge of Objectivist Ethics", an article in the '']'', Benedict Sheehy proclaims that "Rand’s influence as a novelist and popular philosopher can hardly be overstated. She is without doubt, America’s most popular, popular philosopher." | |||
:::::::We should follow the source'''s''', plural, not just the one that says what you prefer. --] (]) 16:28, 23 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::Thanks for your original research, but I'm going to stick with our sources. | |||
::::::::We all agree that Rand is a popular philosopher, but our sources identify three different meanings for "popular" in this context and then specify that the relevant meaning is "amateur". | |||
::::::::Every source that calls her "popular" is just supporting the conclusion that we need to call her "amateur". ] (]) 02:46, 24 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::: Searching for additional sources and citations does not constitute "original research". Some of these sources may help with the specific sections on philosophy, reception, and legacy. Not just the introduction. ] (]) 07:20, 24 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::::RL's misinterpretation of the sources is the original research. Logically, since amateur philosophy is a subcategory of popular philosophy, no amount of sources identifying Rand as a popular philosopher can contradict her status as an amateur philosopher. On the other hand, we have sources which specifically identify her as not just a popular philosopher, but as an amateur. | |||
::::::::::Now, I want this article to be completely fair and I'm still not in love with "amateur" because of its connotations. As that source points out, there were centuries of ''only'' amateur philosophers, and it's no insult to call them amateurs. On the other hand, "popular" is not only imprecise, but misleading, so it won't do. | |||
::::::::::I'm not here to either bury Rand or praise her, so I'd be happy to replace "amateur" with something that gets the same idea across but is nicer to Rand. One way might be to define her in terms of what she's not: "non-professional" or "non-academic". The positive is that "amateur" could mean either non-professional or unprofessional, so the former avoids this misunderstanding. In the same way, "non-academic" makes it clear that she has no degrees and isn't recognized by the community of philosophers, which is also accurate. What do you think? ] (]) 14:44, 24 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::::::This isn't going to appeal to her fanbase, but I did find a way we could use "popular" or something close to it. Sciabarra writes: | |||
:::::::::::Academics have often dismissed her ideas as "pop" philosophy. | |||
::::::::::Unlike "popular philosopher", which makes her sound just popular, not amateur (or the other two meanings), "pop philosopher" makes it clear that she was both popular and amateur. However, while it's accurate, I'm not sure how flattering it is. On the other hand, it's not our job to flatter. ] (]) 14:57, 24 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
{{od}}To describe the use of the exact phrase found in multiple cited sources ("popular philosopher") as "original research" and "misinterpretation" is ridiculous, especially when you keep adding an alternative phrase ("amateur philosopher") that is used in ''none'' of the cited sources. Also, the term "popular" is not misleading in any way, since in comparison to most philosophers who get little notice from the general public, Rand is quite popular. But "non-academic" could work -- there is support in sources for the phrasing, including ''The Oxford Handbook of the History of Political Philosophy'', ''Contemporary Women Philosophers'', and several others. It is also decidedly neutral, having no opinion-based coloring that might be found in some other terms. "Non-professional", on the other hand, has no support, and it would be misleading because it suggests Rand wasn't getting paid for her non-fiction work, when in fact she was. This is also a possible implication of "amateur" that makes it misleading in comparison with "popular" or "non-academic". | |||
I think there is something more that needs to be taken from the sources: several of the sources brought up in this discussion make a point of the change in Rand's career, going from mostly writing fiction to writing non-fiction exclusively. The last 15-20 years of her career was not the same as what went before. This change is mentioned in the body of the article and is clear enough biographically. I would suggest a more substantial rewording of the lead to take account of this career division. I propose we say something like the following: she was "a Russian-born American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, who later in her career became a non-academic philosopher and essayist." ("Essayist" has support in sources also, although the term is so obviously applicable I would hope it doesn't require another raft of footnotes.) Thoughts from others? --] (]) 15:58, 25 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
== Weasel words in the lead == | |||
edit by Medeis changed the wording of the lead, with the apparent goal of putting a more positive spin on how philosophers and literary critics reacted to Rand. It should be reverted, per ]. ] (]) 19:00, 2 January 2013 (UTC) | |||
:I agree it should be reverted, although I don't know that ] is the reason. "During her life" is just wrong as a qualifier, since the qualified remark is still true after her death. "With some exceptions" is true, but already absorbed earlier in the sentence where it says "generally" (not "universally"). Poorly vs. hostilely is a subtle difference, but "poorly" is more general and therefore I think more correct, since not every negative review was openly hostile. The "often for non-literary reasons" part is intuitively correct from reading the reviews, but it is not in the source that is currently cited, so to keep it would require an additional source -- preferably a peer-reviewed academic to minimize wrangling about source biases. So definitely revert for now, and perhaps add back the one phrase (or something similar) later if it can be supported with sources. --] (]) 19:31, 2 January 2013 (UTC) | |||
== List of people Rand influenced == | |||
I was considering the problem of the "Influenced" list in the infobox, which has been discussed on this talk page in the past. There are more people who could be added to the list, but at some point it becomes unwieldy to list them all, not to mention problematic to cite them if her influence on them isn't properly cited in their own articles. I wondered how this was handled for other popular thinkers, so I looked at the infobox for Rand's own idol, ], one of the most influential thinkers in the history of the world. Seeing what was done there has led me to create a new article, ]. There are about a hundred people listed therein (all bluelinks), with supporting citations. I'm hoping we can use this to both shorten the infobox list and perhaps cut down on the prose discussions of people she has influenced. Let me know what you think. --] (]) 07:24, 7 January 2013 (UTC) | |||
:Reducing the list here to the really notable would be a blessing. I am less sure of the list itself as there are some potential BLP violations. The fact someone is listed in a book on the "cult" would really need corroboration for example. I suggest a drastic reduction to self-identification of a '''major''' influence ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 10:35, 7 January 2013 (UTC) | |||
::BLP is of course a concern for any article that mentions the living, but limiting to just explicit statements of self-identification creates oddities because not everyone makes public autobiographical statements. So, for example, if we can't find an autobiographical statement by ] or ], both of whom have worked for Objectivist organizations, should they be excluded? That seems weird. That's why I went with the three-part statement of inclusion that appears at the top of the list (partially modeled on a similar list at ]). In most cases additional sources could be provided; I actually tried to limit the number of different sources used to avoid reference overload. --] (]) 17:47, 7 January 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::If they worked for an objectivist institution then there is a case - my point is they are to some thing they said or did which makes it clear, not just someone claiming they were ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 18:02, 7 January 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::Yes, that should be mostly accounted for in the initial list; I tried to avoid any instances that seemed unconfirmed or gossipy. I didn't include some people mentioned by Branden or Merrill for this reason. The Block book is all autobiographical essays and Weiss did one-on-one interviews, so anything referenced to them should be very solid. I used Walker sparingly, although despite the title and tone of the book he was relatively careful about what he said about living individuals. That said, going forward over-inclusion is probably one of the biggest potential problems for the new article, since we have seen here the tendency to name-drop every celebrity who mentions one of her books in an interview. --] (]) 21:15, 7 January 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::::OK sounds good, not able to check all the books but assume you have done your work there. Fully agree on name dropping. Suggest we now cull the list on this page to maybe 4/5 and link?----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 21:45, 7 January 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::I tried, but if any seem dubious I can double-check. Everyone makes mistakes. (In the other direction, I already noticed a couple of omissions.) As for the infobox on this page, I'd be happy if we omitted names from the Influenced list entirely and did something like this: | |||
{{Infobox writer | |||
| name = Ayn Rand | |||
| influenced = Participants in the ] and ''']''' | |||
}}{{-}} | |||
== Notable mentions sorely missing == | |||
::::::If folks can live with that, it would short-circuit future wrangles over who is "worthy" to appear in the box. --] (]) 23:24, 7 January 2013 (UTC) | |||
Article nneeds to catch up with popculture. Nothing about Obama, or for that matter the responses he received after his disparaging comments. Nothing about the highly unusual for Argentina politician Milei, although he is of course not an Objectivist. Etc. ] (]) 22:14, 29 November 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::::::I agree with that - no one else seems engaged so I suggest you do it! | |||
:Obama commented about Rand briefly in 2012, people responded, and >99.999% of the population has not thought twice about it since that week. That isn't a matter of "catching up"; it is something that wasn't important then and definitely isn't now. | |||
== Aristotelian Philosophers == | |||
:As for Milei, he may be more relevant since we do call out examples of politicians that she has influenced, and he could be the most important of those if the influence is firmly established. Can you point out some reliable secondary sources that establish a meaningful connection? The news articles I've seen say that he claims to have spoken with her ghost, which is not the usual sort of influence we have documented here. --] (]) 00:53, 30 November 2023 (UTC) | |||
She certainly liked him (the famous 3As and all that) but to say she was one requires a third party source. So I have deleted the addition of that category ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 11:12, 15 March 2013 (UTC) | |||
== Rand was a philosopher == | |||
:Not too hard to find sources that say this: Edward Younkins says it ''Philosophers of Capitalism'', Thomas Gramstad in ''Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand'', David Kelly in ''The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand'', James Sterba in ''From Rationality to Equality''. In ''The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand'', Jack Wheeler argues that Rand is even more Aristotelian than she thought herself. On the other hand, it is not an entirely non-controversial classification: Roderick Long argues that Rand isn't really an Aristotelian in ''Reason and Value: Aristotle versus Rand''. On balance it seems there are more sources saying she is than saying she isn't, with the usual large number of sources that don't discuss the question. YMMV about how one-sided it needs to be to justify a category. --] (]) 15:38, 15 March 2013 (UTC) | |||
The expression "public philosopher" will not be recognized by most people and is useless to readers. Also, it is a preposterous and basically meaningless expression. No one is called a "private philosopher", so why describe someone as a "public philosopher"? Calling Rand a philosopher is good enough. ] (]) 08:38, 3 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
::Exactly its controversial and given that she is hardly taken seriously in main stream philosophical circles the balance (if its there) is understandable. How anyone can read Aristotle on virtue and think that Rand is an Aristotelean I can't understand. I would want to check some of those sources anyway, saying that she was influenced by is not the same thing ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 16:16, 15 March 2013 (UTC) | |||
:The term is linked to an article that explains what it means to anyone who is unfamiliar. Rand did what that article describes, and she is mentioned in it as an example. Contrary to your comments here and in edit summaries, the term ''public philosopher'' is not "meaningless" or the "opposite" of ''philosopher'' – ''public'' is simply a modifier to indicate a specific mode of engagement with philosophy. --] (]) 22:00, 3 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
:: I'm doubtful of PP, as opposed to P. Can you point to other examples? For example, I see ''] (born 14 May 1965) is professor of ] at Oregon State University. Her teaching and research specialties focus on ]...'' so here we have someone called a P, even though her research focusses on PP. PP sounds very much like not-as-good-as-a-proper-p ] (]) 09:15, 4 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::A "public philosopher" is just a type of "philosopher" so in theory anyone who is the former could simply be called the latter in a lead, or both. ] is "public philosopher" as part of his initial description. ] is "philosopher" in the initial sentence, then "public philosopher" later in the lead. ] is "philosopher" in the lead and "public philosopher" in the body. In none of these cases does there appear to be any disparagement intended. There are modifiers for ''philosopher'' that would be widely considered disparaging, such as ''amateur'', that have come up in the past. But I don't see how ''public'' is in that category. | |||
:::Anyhow, the modifier was added following a ] that is still above on this talk page. You are welcome to read through that for more background. I don't mind if the lead doesn't have any modifier for ''philosopher'', and I don't mind if it does have one as long as that modifier is accurate, neutral, and supported by a decent amount of sources. As I said to ] previously, I thought it was "OK to try out an alternative and see what the reaction is". If the reaction is negative, then we can return to the status quo ante and/or discuss it more. --] (]) 21:36, 4 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::Sources with quotes and page numbers to facilitate the discussion: | |||
::::The term "public philosopher" is useless and stupid. We are told in the article ], that "Public philosophy is a subfield of philosophy that involves engagement with the public". The definition is hopelessly vague and it does not improve the article at all to add that kind of vague language. The article also says that, public philosophy involves "doing philosophy with general audience", which is nonsense. When Rand wrote her novels and her books she wasn't "doing philosophy" with a "general audience"; she was expounding her own ideas. ] (]) 04:32, 5 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::*"I am an Aristotelian." Rand, ''Letters of Ayn Rand'', p. 394 | |||
:::::The fact that this has been repeatedly disputed suggests to me that we should stick with just the perfectly neutral "writer". I would not object to "writer and public intellectual". | |||
:::*"Ayn Rand's philosophy is Aristotelianism without Platonism." Peikoff, ''Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand'', p. 459 | |||
:::::Have you reviewed ]? | |||
:::*"Ayn Rand, whose philosophy is a form of Aristotelianism, had the highest admiration for Aristotle ..." Younkins, in ''Philosophers of Capitalism'', p. 82. In the preface, he calls her philosophy "neo-Aristotelian" (p. ix). | |||
:::::Cheers, ] (]) 01:36, 6 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::*Sterba's section about Rand is titled "Ayn Rand's Aristotelian Alternative" (''From Rationality to Equality'', p. 94). | |||
::::::The dispute raised in this section is about the modifier that was added in , not about the use of the term ''philosopher''. As I already quoted myself earlier regarding the addition of a modifier, we tried "an alternative see what the reaction is". This is that reaction. Not a shock to me, since I've seen this topic discussed multiple times in the past. There are literally dozens of reliable sources that refer to her as a philosopher, with or without some modifier, so there is not a good case to deny that core term. But the options for modifiers vary, so there is much more room to dispute any specific modifier. --] (]) 04:49, 6 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::*"...Rand is an Aristotelian. Although much of Objectivism (especially its metaphysics) differs significantly from Aristotelian philosophy, Rand falls generally within the Aristotelian tradition..." Smith, ''Atheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Heresies'', p. 191 | |||
:::::::I think that someone familiar with Rand would realize that she would have completely rejected the term "public philosopher". ] (]) 07:32, 6 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::*Notwithstanding what Smith says, Kelley says her metaphysics is "basically Aristotelian" in ''The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand'', p. 81. | |||
:Hi @], | |||
:::*Burns calls her "neo-Aristotelian" in ''Goddess of the Market'', p. 148. | |||
:The problem with "philosopher", as I see it, is a consequence of the highly polarized views the she inspires. I don't doubt @] for a second when they promise they could produce many quality sources calling her a philosopher. And usually this would be all we need. | |||
:::*Sandefur also calls her "neo-Aristotelian" in an entry on individualism in ''The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism'' (p. 241). The Rand entry in that same encyclopedia (by Sciabarra) refers to her "Aristotelian premises" (p. 414). | |||
:In this case, however, many other quality sources take issue with this descriptor. Some folks consider her to be just about the only person you need to read. Other folks, however, including many working in philosophy departments on research topically overlapping with her own do not consider the quality of her writing to merit mention or engagement—to the point some would consider a suggestion to the contrary disqualifying. | |||
:::*In ''Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical'', Sciabarra manages to mention Aristotelianism numerous times without ever quite saying whether Rand was an Aristotelian or not. | |||
:For example, from the article: | |||
:::*Machan refers to "Aristotelian characteristics" and "Aristotelian-inspired" metaethics in ''Ayn Rand'' (pp. 12, 19). He calls her metaethics "neo-Aristotelian" in an essay in ''Objectivism, Subjectivism, and Relativism in Ethics'', p. 116. | |||
:<blockquote>Rand's relationship with contemporary philosophers was mostly antagonistic. She was not an academic and did not participate in academic discourse. She was dismissive of critics and wrote about ideas she disagreed with in a polemical manner without in-depth analysis. She was in turn viewed very negatively by many academic philosophers, who dismissed her as an unimportant figure who should not be considered a philosopher or given any serious response.</blockquote> | |||
:::*Long says that while her philosophy "proclaims itself a version of Aristotelianism", it takes various positions that "undermine her basically Aristotelian inclinations and sentiments". (''Reason and Value'', p. 5) | |||
:Since, as is the case, her status as a philosopher is heavily contested by many people who incontestably are philosophers, it should not be stated as a fact in the first sentence of the lead. That is a violation of ]. | |||
:::I started this list not particularly caring whether the category was included or not, but after accumulating the material I'm inclined to say it should be there. I also note that the category page says (in text stable since 2006), "This category is for philosophers who have been strongly influenced by Aristotle." That seems to fit Rand. --] (]) 22:00, 15 March 2013 (UTC) | |||
:What is the objection to "public intellectual"? It is neutral and also captures a wider range of her activities. As a second choice, I would also be fine with "non-academic philosopher", suggested above by RL0919. | |||
::::Which of those are reliable third party philosophical sources? If those say it OK, otherwise its dubious and even influence has to show some understanding :-) ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 06:28, 16 March 2013 (UTC) | |||
:Cheers, ] (]) 15:41, 6 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::::Add to that the simple fact that she is not universally accepted as a Philosopher and I think we need something that is third party and authoritative ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 11:21, 18 March 2013 (UTC) | |||
::::::I hope you don't want to turn this into a reprise of the lopsided "philosopher" dispute. Only one of the sources above is Rand herself, so most are "third party", but I expect that isn't what you really mean. Sterba and Burns are non-Objectivist academics writing in books published by a prestigious university press. Machan and Younkins wrote in peer-reviewed academic essay collections. To the sources above I can now add the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' article on Rand by Chandran Kukathas, and an essay by John C. Merrill in ''Ethical Communication: Moral Stances in Human Dialogue''. Both are non-Objectivist academics. So even if you dismiss everyone who is an Objectivist or even "Objectivish", that's at least four peer-reviewed sources. --] (]) 16:39, 21 March 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::::::The issue of how do you prove a negative on Misplaced Pages is well illustrated by the "philosopher" issue, no idea why its "lopsided". Not sure the Burns quote counts, Sterba possibly. Long would be a contra argument and I own up to that being my sentiment. Routledge is more the sort of source I was looking for. If that is unambiguous (unlike Sterba) it could be enough ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 22:51, 21 March 2013 (UTC) | |||
::"In this case, however, many other quality sources take issue with this descriptor." But this is not true. In actual (Misplaced Pages-reliable) ''sources'', the numbers are lopsided: many sources that call her a philosopher, and a vastly smaller number that deny it. We hear from secondary sources about what an unspecified number of mostly unidentified academics (who may or may not be "incontestably" philosophers – that is your own spin, not from any source at all) believe: there are people who ''think'' she wasn't a philosopher, and presumably make some mention of this in conversation or other informal ways that made secondary source authors aware of their existence. But these people apparently aren't bothering to put their rejection of the label into reliable source content that we can use in an article. Far from "heavily contest" the matter, these people – however many of them there may be, we don't know – have passively conceded the field of discussion about her within reliable sources. If that results in their viewpoints having less weight in this article, then that is their own fault. --] (]) 16:27, 6 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
oh my god ......you guys are still fighting over Ayn Rand. its been like 4 years since i last checked in. i guess everyone needs a hobby. ] (]) 21:51, 3 May 2013 (UTC)brushcherry | |||
:::Hi @] | |||
:::If professional philosophers do not engage with her, that would seem to me to be a natural consequence of her disregard for them. It is crucial to philosophy that practitioners subject their claims to the scrutiny of their peers. All the way back in ancient Greece, Socrates practiced philosophy in the agora, Plato wrote dialogues, Aristotle began his lectures with the consideration of what has been handed down from the wise. | |||
:::The modern university system, for all of its many faults, institutionalizes and promotes this kind of sometimes oppositional collaboration. | |||
:::If you publish with non-academic presses and mostly just respond to questions from your fans, you're not practicing philosophy. You are propounding or evangelizing or something of that kind. | |||
:::Academics, cultural critics, and (in some cases) journalists actually really love it when someone takes a clear, strong position, as Rand does, and resolutely defends it in response to criticism. For instance, look at the professional success of ]! Nearly everyone thought he was wrong on almost all of his core positions, but he was widely cited and even well-liked—because he expressed himself with great clarity and responded with care to criticisms of his work. | |||
:::Rand, for her own reasons, declined to participate in this kind of knowledge-building, quality-assurance process. She opted out. So scholars interested in these topics instead write about, e.g., ] or ]. | |||
:::It is possible that she, like Nietzsche, will be elevated posthumously. Maybe this has already happened. Some of the sources listed in the bibliography are obviously legit academic work. I do not see, however, how her own output makes her a philosopher. Although I'm not at all willing to make a research project out of compiling sources rejecting the designation, there definitely are high-quality sources, e.g., ] begins with a discussion to justify her inclusion and includes lines such as, | |||
:::<blockquote>Some who do read her work point out that her arguments too often do not support her conclusions. This estimate is shared even by many who find her conclusions and her criticisms of contemporary culture, morality, and politics original and insightful. It is not surprising, then, that she is either mentioned in passing, or not mentioned at all, in the entries that discuss current philosophical thought about virtue ethics, egoism, rights, libertarianism, or markets.</blockquote> | |||
:::Finally, just as an aside, did you mean to imply in your parenthetical that people who have PhDs in philosophy, have published peer-reviewed work in philosophy, and are employed by accredited institutions of post-secondary education to teach philosophers are not incontestably philosophers? (I am not saying these are necessary criteria that could disqualify Rand or anyone else, just that they are sufficient.) Some of these folk are shoddy philosophers, to be sure, if that is what you mean. But if you mean something different, would you mind saying a little more about what you understand the term to mean? It might help to facilitate our discussion about the article. | |||
:::Cheers, ] (]) 18:04, 6 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
Ayn Rand was a ], not any sort of modified philosopher and the mainstream does not support "philosopher" in any meaningful form.]] 18:54, 6 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
::::{{Re|PatrickJWelsh}} I am not going to argue about your personal view of who qualifies as a "philosopher" and I am not propounding my own. The beliefs of Misplaced Pages editors about who ''should'' be called a philosopher is not supposed to guide our decisions about article content (although you might have trouble reconciling that with much of what people say on these talk pages, cf some of the other participants so far). What I am saying is that when, e.g., writes that, "Many propose that not a philosopher at all", this statement tells us that such people exist in some number, but not specifically who they are or even how many. She also doesn't say that the "philosopher" status of this "many" is ''incontestable''. That is your own term reflecting your own view, not something stated in any source that I have seen. – therefore, as I said just a few sentences back, not something that should guide article content and not something I'm going to directly engage with here. (FWIW, Cleary indicates that her own view is that Rand is a philosopher, "just not a very good one".) Claudia Brühwiler, who argues a case ''against'' Rand being a philosopher, ironically highlights the asymmetry in other sources: In her discussion, she names dozen figures who credited Rand with being a philosopher. She names two who denied it. And it is the overall ecosystem of sources that we (should) care most about in deciding what labels to use in our article. --] (]) 20:30, 6 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
== The use of Sciabarra's "Transcript" article as a source == | |||
:::::I asked you the wrong question. Instead: what does Rand think a philosopher is? Does she give a direct definition anywhere? Or is there a scholarly source that reconstructs one from her writings? | |||
:::::This would be a welcome addition to the article. Because I politely take issue with your characterization of my previous post as just "personal opinion". It's a high-level description of a 2,500 year history of the term designating a person committed to a loosely defined set of truth-seeking practices into which Rand does not seem to comfortably fit. | |||
:::::We need a definition stronger than just having more-or-less considered views about the world, how one ought to act, what the government should be doing, et cetera (and also, in many cases, being more than happy to propound these views at length to anyone who will listen). Because that would make just about everyone a philosopher, rendering the term nearly meaningless as a description of anyone. | |||
:::::Perhaps something about her commitment to a systematic procedure? | |||
:::::Cheers, ] (]) 22:10, 6 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
::::::Rand was very concerned with the importance of ''philosophy'' – personally, socially, and historically – but not so much with ''philosophers'', except in their functional role of generating philosophical ideas. I can't recall her defining any qualifications or other gatekeeping for who was or could be a philosopher, as long as they were producing relevant ideas. If you just accept existing ideas, however well-considered, I don't think she would call you a philosopher. People who re-transmit the ideas of others were "intellectuals" – hence the title of her first nonfiction book was '']'' because it was her giving her ideas to those she hoped would circulate them. However, while this could be interesting for the article if secondary sources can be found – the preceding was my own summary from primary sources – I don't think it speaks to the matter we were discussing. We don't generally give subjects – especially ones long dead – determinative control over their own descriptions. She would be appalled to see us revealing her legal name (thoroughly hidden during her lifetime) or describing her as an important influence on libertarianism (a movement she denounced). But sources tell us these things. If sources tell us she was a philosopher, then we can call her that regardless of whether she would have – although she did in fact use the term for herself. --] (]) 23:55, 6 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
I have a question on the use of Sciabarra's 1999 JARS' article "The Rand Transcript". The article is used several times, mostly for very innocuous information. However, as I was reading the second edition of Essays on Ayn Rand's We The Living (ed. Robert Mayhew, 2012), I came across this very interesting critique of Sciabarra's source by Shoshana Milgram . Milgram makes several arguments as to why Sciabarra's analysis is problematic. Since the article only cites Sciabarra for evidence that Rand studied Plato and Aristotle in college, I don't have a problem with the citation per se. But I'm wondering if it's more intellectually honest or whatever to cite Milgram's article in conjunction with Sciabarra's? (In any case, the citation for the Mayew essay anthology should probably be updated with the information for the second edition as it incorporates three new articles.) <small><span class="autosigned">— Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) 00:31, 6 May 2013</span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> | |||
:::::::@], all right. If you ever do come across a good source on either her stated conception of her own activity as a philosopher or a scholarly reconstruction of some more specific sense in which she is well-described by the term, I would consider adding this to the article. Something along these lines would probably have assuaged my concerns at least well enough have dropped the matter fairly early in our first exchange. | |||
:::::::(As it stands, this still feels uncomfortably close to calling someone who has no academic training a "psychologist" on the basis of a sequence of best-selling self-help books and television appearances.) | |||
:::::::But I will relent to the sources you've amassed and drop the issue. | |||
:::::::Thank you for your patience with this exchange and for your consistent civility. | |||
:::::::Cheers, ] (]) 00:30, 7 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::::::@] Hello! Would it be worth suggesting that maybe the problem is defining Ayn Rand in the article as a philosopher under "occupation"? To an extent, I believe that both you and @] are correct in your points about her. Ayn Rand is publicly considered to be a philosopher by many, but this doesn't necessarily equate to what is considered being a philosopher by occupation, as Patrick points out. The common belief of what constitutes being a philosopher by occupation usually includes a college degree in philosophy of some kind (again said by Patrick), which Ayn Rand is not in possession of. She is a philosopher (individually, but not occupationally) whom communicates her ''philosophical ideas'' through what is actually her occupation, which would be her authorship. So, saying that Ayn Rand isn't a philosopher at all is something that I would argue to be incorrect. Saying that Ayn Rand is an occupational philosopher is something that I would argue to be incorrect as well. I hope that makes sense. ] (]) 03:34, 9 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::::::: That's actually a pretty good point. I don't think the problem with philosopher-as-occupation is so much about the credentials; it's the fact that, whether you consider her to be a "real" philosopher or not, it's not what she got ''paid'' for. Except in the secondary sense that people bought her books, which is covered by "author". --] (]) 04:07, 9 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::::::Hello, ]. The only place "occupation" is mentioned is in the infobox, so I assume you are talking about that. No, the discussion from last year had nothing to do with occupation, because at that time the ''Occupation'' field said "writer"; "philosopher" was added in a couple of months later. I do not particularly care whether her occupation is listed in the infobox as writer, author, philosopher, some mix of these, or not at all. Ideally this would be based on what sources say, but that can be hard because sources about people's lives are more apt to just say "X was a Y" rather than saying "Y was the occupation/profession of X". --] (]) 18:26, 9 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
== Does a better profile photo exist? == | |||
:What claims in the article would Milgram's piece be cited in support of, and why? The notes you mention above relate to matters that aren't discussed anywhere in this article, so there would be no reason to cite Milgram in relation to them. As to the book citation, we ought to be citing the edition used to source the material, regardless of what the most recent edition is. To change the edition, someone should review the four instances where it is cited to confirm that the text still supports the claims and that page numbers haven't changed, updating the citations if needed. Otherwise we will have a mismatch. --] (]) 19:58, 6 May 2013 (UTC) | |||
She is barely recognizable in the current one. I've seen plenty more recent photos where she smiles, is dressed differently and the shadows obscure less. It looks like a different person. But I suppose we need one that is free to use for our purposes here.] (]) 22:51, 10 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
:: Yes, the notes I pointed to in particular cite problems with Sciabarra's 1999 analysis of Rand's transcripts. His article is used to back up very innocuous facts, such as Rand's introduction to Aristotle and Plato (note 14). As such, it's not really a problem. However, Milgram's article supports the exact same fact with additional and up-to-date scholarship. The article could reflect that--or it doesn't need to. ] (]) 21:03, 14 May 2013 (UTC) | |||
:Yes, we are required to include only "free use" images when such are available. The one we are using is a professional publicity shot used to promote one of her books, which is in the ] due to quirks of US copyright law. --] (]) 00:32, 11 December 2023 (UTC) | |||
== Sentence correction edit rejected by WP bot == | |||
== "un" or "less"? == | |||
"Her villains support duty and collectivist moral ideals." | |||
In this sentence, "After two early novels that were initially less successful, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel ''The Fountainhead''...", the mistaken impression is that there were "more" successful novels that preceeded AR's two early novels. I suggest that you replace "less successful" with "unsuccessful"; it's accurate and succinct. ] (]) 01:45, 20 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
:What it says now is that "We the Living" and "Anthem" were unsuccessful in America, moderately successful elsewhere. For the first, "Initial sales were slow and the American publisher let it go out of print, although European editions continued to sell". The second, "initially could not find an American publisher". ] (]) 03:47, 20 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
This sentence as published is clearly incorrect and highly misleading. | |||
== Input for ''Night of January 16th'' == | |||
Based on personal knowledge of Ayn Rand's novels and philosophy it is clear that this sentence should be edited as follows: | |||
I have been working recently on the '']'' article, with the thought of nominating it for ] status. Since this page has a lot more watchers than that one, many of whom are familiar with Rand's works and perhaps that play in particular, I'm hoping others can take a look and see if there are further improvements needed before moving forward. Thanks in advance for any input. --] (]) 22:46, 23 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
"Her villains support duty and *reject* collectivist moral ideals." | |||
:For anyone watching, I've opened a ] for the article. No feedback yet after the first week. --] (]) 17:59, 9 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
Please correct the record. ] (]) 12:12, 30 March 2024 (UTC) | |||
== Rand on discrimination == | |||
:The bot reverted your edit because you inserted it with commentary rather than just making the change. But even if properly formatted, the change you are asking for is wrong. I'm not sure if you are misreading the sentence in the article, or if you have profoundly misunderstood Rand's views. Rand herself was opposed to collectivism, so her villains typically support collectivist morality, which is what the sentence says. Her villains definitely are not portrayed as ''rejecting'' collectivism. --] (]) 17:12, 30 March 2024 (UTC) | |||
An editor has been attempting to edit the description of Rand's statements about homosexuality into a more general statement that she had views "opposing laws against private-sector discrimination while also opposing public-sector discrimination" (in , for example). First this was done with no source, in the process mistakenly suggesting the information may have come from the source previously cited for Rand's views on homosexuality. When challenged for a source, it was re-done with a source borrowed from the ] article. There are a couple of problems here. Most important, the cited source still does not support the text. It says nothing about homosexuality or gay rights, and only briefly alludes to discrimination without explicitly stating any view Rand had on the subject. Second, the mention of Rand's views on this subject in this particular article is in a specific biographical context, that of her making controversial statements in public appearances. To fit into the article as it stands, the stated position would not just need to be an accurate (and sourced) representation of her views, but it would need to be a view she stated in a public appearance and which a secondary source had described as controversial. Even if the cited source could be interpreted as representing Rand's views on discrimination (which it doesn't explicitly do), it gives no such biographical context. So I've reverted the change here, and tagged the source as "failed verification" in the ] article. --] (]) 01:10, 25 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
::I came back to state that I was in error. My apologies. ] (]) 21:51, 1 April 2024 (UTC) | |||
:Before we talk about sources, let's make sure we got the facts right, so lemme know which ones are off: | |||
::1) She opposed public-sector discrimination against gays. | |||
::2) She opposed laws interfering with private-sector discrimination against gays. | |||
:You run http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/index.html so you should know this stuff, right? And it's not like you've got any sort of conflict of interest or anything... ] (]) 07:08, 25 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
::Did I say anywhere, "this statement is factually wrong"? My suggestion is that you read ] and ] before proceeding. To play off a common phrase, "] or it didn't happen". Also please note the concern about biographical context. As for your ], you are also welcome to read ] and then explain specifically what conflict of interest you believe exists, rather than vaguely insinuating that there is one. My talk page is linked in the signature stamp for this comment. --] (]) 09:47, 25 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::You know, I've been reading up on policies with names like BLP and RS, and behind all the jibber-jabber, they're here so that we don't post nonsense. If we agree that those two statements are true and we both want this bio to be correct, then we're on the same side. All we gotta do is make sure that we back it up with refs so nobody has any doubts. | |||
:::Your own site quotes her with "All laws against homosexual acts should be repealed" and "...I do not believe that the government has the right to prohibit it", so that backs up the first. | |||
:::It also backs up the second by quoting her as opposing laws against private discrimination, even when it means allowing racism, which she despised. | |||
:::Now, if we didn't say that Rand was against discriminatory laws, we could just stop there. But we do, so we have to add the part about her being opposed to anti-discriminatory laws, otherwise we wind up lying by omission. We can't do that, can we? ] (]) 02:52, 26 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
== Was Ayn Rand a Soviet Spy? == | |||
::::We omit lots of things, since an encyclopedia article cannot recount every detail of Rand's life and views -- it would be hundreds of pages long. We try to use secondary sources as a guide to what should be included. The portion of the article you have been editing discusses what secondary sources have called out as controversial commentary Rand made in her public appearances. It is not a list of every thing Rand ever thought or that we might infer she thought. To my knowledge, Rand never made any public statements about laws against private anti-gay discrimination. Such laws were rare in Rand's lifetime and arose after she stopped most public speaking, so possibly it just never came up. It is not acceptable for us to infer what she might have thought and claim it as her view. | |||
I find it suspicious that hat she was granted a visa to visit relatives in the United States. Visas to go to America and other free countries were almost never granted to Soviet citizens unless they enjoyed a position of great trust in the Communist party. In the looking-glass world of espionage, people are often the exact opposite of what they appear to be in public. ] (]) 19:51, 1 May 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::She did make statements about racism and laws against racial discrimination, which is a different topic from homosexuality. If there is a secondary source that says Rand's public statements on race were controversial, then potentially we could include that in addition to what we now say about her controversial statements on homosexuality and other topics. But we would need a source for that. The two main sources being used now, Burns and Heller, describe no such controversy. --] (]) 04:18, 26 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
:If there are ] to support this theory, please provide details about where they are. If not, relevant information can be found ] and ]. --] (]) 01:22, 2 May 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::::In Commando, Arnold lied by saying "I let him go", when he'd just dropped the guy off a cliff. He lied by telling part of the truth. We're not going to do that. | |||
:::::The way it sounds now, Rand opposed discrimination against gays. That's a lie. She opposed any laws pro or con. This means she opposed discrimination by the government but also opposed the government getting in the way of other discrimination. | |||
:::::Now, you already admitted it's true, but now you're flip-flopping like Romney. She said that the government has no business trying to stop discrimination. It's original research by you when you say she only meant racism. In fact, she opposed racism as immoral but still supported the right of racists to discriminate. Since she thought homosexuality was immoral and disgusting, it's sticking your words in her mouth to say she'd make an exception by supporting laws forbidding private discrimination against gays. | |||
:::::I'm going to fix the article. If you want to break the rules, you're going to get in trouble. ] (]) 05:49, 26 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
== Opposition to ethical hedonism == | |||
::::::You should worry less about whether I am "flip-flopping" or might "get in trouble" (I got a good chuckle from that), and more more about whether there are sources to support the changes you want to make. There is a difference between what a Misplaced Pages editor might believe and what can be documented using sources. We should not put a claim in the article that Rand made controversial public statements about something that she is not documented as speaking about. To call such restraint "sticking ... words in her mouth" is an Orwellian way to describe the situation. Your latest, much more modest edit is close enough to what the sources say that I don't object, so it may be an acceptable compromise. --] (]) 14:51, 26 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
Ayn Rand opposed ], this should be specified in the lead. | |||
== Comment == | |||
Source: http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/hedonism.html ] (]) 19:48, 8 August 2024 (UTC) | |||
This article has been vigorously policed by a Rand fan base that will not continence the inclusion of information they feel "damaging" to Rand's legacy as an iconic avatar in the field of philosophy. The grip of this Rand watch group is continuous, and manipulatively vigilant, compromising the integrity of Misplaced Pages. That this entry has been considered for "Good Article" status is particularly egregious. The caution box posted on top of this page, only confirms the lack of impartiality practiced by "interested parties."] (]) 22:25, 27 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
:You need to list specific items rather than make general accusations. There are plenty of non-randinistas who monitor the page, but we have to take an evidence based approach ----] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 16:02, 28 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
::I'll bring one up. Rand is known for having a typically libertarian position on gay rights, which is that she's against the government discriminating but also against the government preventing discrimination. This isn't a secret, it's not even embarrassing (among libertarians), but I've had a lot of push-back when trying to fix the page so it says all this correctly. Coincidentally, this all came from a huge fan of Rand who runs a popular pro-Rand web site. ] (]) 21:20, 28 July 2013 (UTC) | |||
:::What is not coincidental is that there are no sources for this, because that's why you are getting pushback. Similarly, when another editor to insert a long, blatantly ] commentary against Rand based primarily on a posting to a political blog, it was quickly reverted by an editor who seems to have little interest in Rand but can recognize tendentious content. We are also confronted with the other side of the POV coin, editors who want to remove negative comment, no matter how well sourced. , for example, insisted that her literary and academic reception was not negative. Fortunately there was a ] who resisted this ... oh, wait. --] (]) 22:13, 29 July 2013 (UTC) |
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Notable mentions sorely missing
Article nneeds to catch up with popculture. Nothing about Obama, or for that matter the responses he received after his disparaging comments. Nothing about the highly unusual for Argentina politician Milei, although he is of course not an Objectivist. Etc. 83.255.180.77 (talk) 22:14, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
- Obama commented about Rand briefly in 2012, people responded, and >99.999% of the population has not thought twice about it since that week. That isn't a matter of "catching up"; it is something that wasn't important then and definitely isn't now.
- As for Milei, he may be more relevant since we do call out examples of politicians that she has influenced, and he could be the most important of those if the influence is firmly established. Can you point out some reliable secondary sources that establish a meaningful connection? The news articles I've seen say that he claims to have spoken with her ghost, which is not the usual sort of influence we have documented here. --RL0919 (talk) 00:53, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
Rand was a philosopher
The expression "public philosopher" will not be recognized by most people and is useless to readers. Also, it is a preposterous and basically meaningless expression. No one is called a "private philosopher", so why describe someone as a "public philosopher"? Calling Rand a philosopher is good enough. Zarenon (talk) 08:38, 3 December 2023 (UTC)
- The term is linked to an article that explains what it means to anyone who is unfamiliar. Rand did what that article describes, and she is mentioned in it as an example. Contrary to your comments here and in edit summaries, the term public philosopher is not "meaningless" or the "opposite" of philosopher – public is simply a modifier to indicate a specific mode of engagement with philosophy. --RL0919 (talk) 22:00, 3 December 2023 (UTC)
- I'm doubtful of PP, as opposed to P. Can you point to other examples? For example, I see Sharyn Clough (born 14 May 1965) is professor of philosophy at Oregon State University. Her teaching and research specialties focus on public philosophy... so here we have someone called a P, even though her research focusses on PP. PP sounds very much like not-as-good-as-a-proper-p William M. Connolley (talk) 09:15, 4 December 2023 (UTC)
- A "public philosopher" is just a type of "philosopher" so in theory anyone who is the former could simply be called the latter in a lead, or both. Walter Terence Stace is "public philosopher" as part of his initial description. Jane Addams is "philosopher" in the initial sentence, then "public philosopher" later in the lead. Susan Schneider is "philosopher" in the lead and "public philosopher" in the body. In none of these cases does there appear to be any disparagement intended. There are modifiers for philosopher that would be widely considered disparaging, such as amateur, that have come up in the past. But I don't see how public is in that category.
- I'm doubtful of PP, as opposed to P. Can you point to other examples? For example, I see Sharyn Clough (born 14 May 1965) is professor of philosophy at Oregon State University. Her teaching and research specialties focus on public philosophy... so here we have someone called a P, even though her research focusses on PP. PP sounds very much like not-as-good-as-a-proper-p William M. Connolley (talk) 09:15, 4 December 2023 (UTC)
- Anyhow, the modifier was added following a September discussion that is still above on this talk page. You are welcome to read through that for more background. I don't mind if the lead doesn't have any modifier for philosopher, and I don't mind if it does have one as long as that modifier is accurate, neutral, and supported by a decent amount of sources. As I said to User:PatrickJWelsh previously, I thought it was "OK to try out an alternative and see what the reaction is". If the reaction is negative, then we can return to the status quo ante and/or discuss it more. --RL0919 (talk) 21:36, 4 December 2023 (UTC)
- The term "public philosopher" is useless and stupid. We are told in the article Public philosopher, that "Public philosophy is a subfield of philosophy that involves engagement with the public". The definition is hopelessly vague and it does not improve the article at all to add that kind of vague language. The article also says that, public philosophy involves "doing philosophy with general audience", which is nonsense. When Rand wrote her novels and her books she wasn't "doing philosophy" with a "general audience"; she was expounding her own ideas. Zarenon (talk) 04:32, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
- The fact that this has been repeatedly disputed suggests to me that we should stick with just the perfectly neutral "writer". I would not object to "writer and public intellectual".
- Have you reviewed the discussion above?
- Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 01:36, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- The dispute raised in this section is about the modifier that was added in this edit, not about the use of the term philosopher. As I already quoted myself earlier regarding the addition of a modifier, we tried "an alternative see what the reaction is". This is that reaction. Not a shock to me, since I've seen this topic discussed multiple times in the past. There are literally dozens of reliable sources that refer to her as a philosopher, with or without some modifier, so there is not a good case to deny that core term. But the options for modifiers vary, so there is much more room to dispute any specific modifier. --RL0919 (talk) 04:49, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- I think that someone familiar with Rand would realize that she would have completely rejected the term "public philosopher". Zarenon (talk) 07:32, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- The dispute raised in this section is about the modifier that was added in this edit, not about the use of the term philosopher. As I already quoted myself earlier regarding the addition of a modifier, we tried "an alternative see what the reaction is". This is that reaction. Not a shock to me, since I've seen this topic discussed multiple times in the past. There are literally dozens of reliable sources that refer to her as a philosopher, with or without some modifier, so there is not a good case to deny that core term. But the options for modifiers vary, so there is much more room to dispute any specific modifier. --RL0919 (talk) 04:49, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- The term "public philosopher" is useless and stupid. We are told in the article Public philosopher, that "Public philosophy is a subfield of philosophy that involves engagement with the public". The definition is hopelessly vague and it does not improve the article at all to add that kind of vague language. The article also says that, public philosophy involves "doing philosophy with general audience", which is nonsense. When Rand wrote her novels and her books she wasn't "doing philosophy" with a "general audience"; she was expounding her own ideas. Zarenon (talk) 04:32, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
- Anyhow, the modifier was added following a September discussion that is still above on this talk page. You are welcome to read through that for more background. I don't mind if the lead doesn't have any modifier for philosopher, and I don't mind if it does have one as long as that modifier is accurate, neutral, and supported by a decent amount of sources. As I said to User:PatrickJWelsh previously, I thought it was "OK to try out an alternative and see what the reaction is". If the reaction is negative, then we can return to the status quo ante and/or discuss it more. --RL0919 (talk) 21:36, 4 December 2023 (UTC)
- Hi @Zarenon,
- The problem with "philosopher", as I see it, is a consequence of the highly polarized views the she inspires. I don't doubt @RL0919 for a second when they promise they could produce many quality sources calling her a philosopher. And usually this would be all we need.
- In this case, however, many other quality sources take issue with this descriptor. Some folks consider her to be just about the only person you need to read. Other folks, however, including many working in philosophy departments on research topically overlapping with her own do not consider the quality of her writing to merit mention or engagement—to the point some would consider a suggestion to the contrary disqualifying.
- For example, from the article:
Rand's relationship with contemporary philosophers was mostly antagonistic. She was not an academic and did not participate in academic discourse. She was dismissive of critics and wrote about ideas she disagreed with in a polemical manner without in-depth analysis. She was in turn viewed very negatively by many academic philosophers, who dismissed her as an unimportant figure who should not be considered a philosopher or given any serious response.
- Since, as is the case, her status as a philosopher is heavily contested by many people who incontestably are philosophers, it should not be stated as a fact in the first sentence of the lead. That is a violation of WP:NPOV.
- What is the objection to "public intellectual"? It is neutral and also captures a wider range of her activities. As a second choice, I would also be fine with "non-academic philosopher", suggested above by RL0919.
- Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 15:41, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- "In this case, however, many other quality sources take issue with this descriptor." But this is not true. In actual (Misplaced Pages-reliable) sources, the numbers are lopsided: many sources that call her a philosopher, and a vastly smaller number that deny it. We hear from secondary sources about what an unspecified number of mostly unidentified academics (who may or may not be "incontestably" philosophers – that is your own spin, not from any source at all) believe: there are people who think she wasn't a philosopher, and presumably make some mention of this in conversation or other informal ways that made secondary source authors aware of their existence. But these people apparently aren't bothering to put their rejection of the label into reliable source content that we can use in an article. Far from "heavily contest" the matter, these people – however many of them there may be, we don't know – have passively conceded the field of discussion about her within reliable sources. If that results in their viewpoints having less weight in this article, then that is their own fault. --RL0919 (talk) 16:27, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- Hi @RL0919
- If professional philosophers do not engage with her, that would seem to me to be a natural consequence of her disregard for them. It is crucial to philosophy that practitioners subject their claims to the scrutiny of their peers. All the way back in ancient Greece, Socrates practiced philosophy in the agora, Plato wrote dialogues, Aristotle began his lectures with the consideration of what has been handed down from the wise.
- The modern university system, for all of its many faults, institutionalizes and promotes this kind of sometimes oppositional collaboration.
- If you publish with non-academic presses and mostly just respond to questions from your fans, you're not practicing philosophy. You are propounding or evangelizing or something of that kind.
- Academics, cultural critics, and (in some cases) journalists actually really love it when someone takes a clear, strong position, as Rand does, and resolutely defends it in response to criticism. For instance, look at the professional success of Richard Rorty! Nearly everyone thought he was wrong on almost all of his core positions, but he was widely cited and even well-liked—because he expressed himself with great clarity and responded with care to criticisms of his work.
- Rand, for her own reasons, declined to participate in this kind of knowledge-building, quality-assurance process. She opted out. So scholars interested in these topics instead write about, e.g., Robert Nozick or Milton Friedman.
- It is possible that she, like Nietzsche, will be elevated posthumously. Maybe this has already happened. Some of the sources listed in the bibliography are obviously legit academic work. I do not see, however, how her own output makes her a philosopher. Although I'm not at all willing to make a research project out of compiling sources rejecting the designation, there definitely are high-quality sources, e.g., The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy begins with a discussion to justify her inclusion and includes lines such as,
Some who do read her work point out that her arguments too often do not support her conclusions. This estimate is shared even by many who find her conclusions and her criticisms of contemporary culture, morality, and politics original and insightful. It is not surprising, then, that she is either mentioned in passing, or not mentioned at all, in the entries that discuss current philosophical thought about virtue ethics, egoism, rights, libertarianism, or markets.
- Finally, just as an aside, did you mean to imply in your parenthetical that people who have PhDs in philosophy, have published peer-reviewed work in philosophy, and are employed by accredited institutions of post-secondary education to teach philosophers are not incontestably philosophers? (I am not saying these are necessary criteria that could disqualify Rand or anyone else, just that they are sufficient.) Some of these folk are shoddy philosophers, to be sure, if that is what you mean. But if you mean something different, would you mind saying a little more about what you understand the term to mean? It might help to facilitate our discussion about the article.
- Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 18:04, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- "In this case, however, many other quality sources take issue with this descriptor." But this is not true. In actual (Misplaced Pages-reliable) sources, the numbers are lopsided: many sources that call her a philosopher, and a vastly smaller number that deny it. We hear from secondary sources about what an unspecified number of mostly unidentified academics (who may or may not be "incontestably" philosophers – that is your own spin, not from any source at all) believe: there are people who think she wasn't a philosopher, and presumably make some mention of this in conversation or other informal ways that made secondary source authors aware of their existence. But these people apparently aren't bothering to put their rejection of the label into reliable source content that we can use in an article. Far from "heavily contest" the matter, these people – however many of them there may be, we don't know – have passively conceded the field of discussion about her within reliable sources. If that results in their viewpoints having less weight in this article, then that is their own fault. --RL0919 (talk) 16:27, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
Ayn Rand was a Poet, not any sort of modified philosopher and the mainstream does not support "philosopher" in any meaningful form. SPECIFICO talk 18:54, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- @PatrickJWelsh: I am not going to argue about your personal view of who qualifies as a "philosopher" and I am not propounding my own. The beliefs of Misplaced Pages editors about who should be called a philosopher is not supposed to guide our decisions about article content (although you might have trouble reconciling that with much of what people say on these talk pages, cf some of the other participants so far). What I am saying is that when, e.g., Skye Cleary writes that, "Many propose that not a philosopher at all", this statement tells us that such people exist in some number, but not specifically who they are or even how many. She also doesn't say that the "philosopher" status of this "many" is incontestable. That is your own term reflecting your own view, not something stated in any source that I have seen. – therefore, as I said just a few sentences back, not something that should guide article content and not something I'm going to directly engage with here. (FWIW, Cleary indicates that her own view is that Rand is a philosopher, "just not a very good one".) Claudia Brühwiler, who argues a case against Rand being a philosopher, ironically highlights the asymmetry in other sources: In her discussion, she names dozen figures who credited Rand with being a philosopher. She names two who denied it. And it is the overall ecosystem of sources that we (should) care most about in deciding what labels to use in our article. --RL0919 (talk) 20:30, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- I asked you the wrong question. Instead: what does Rand think a philosopher is? Does she give a direct definition anywhere? Or is there a scholarly source that reconstructs one from her writings?
- This would be a welcome addition to the article. Because I politely take issue with your characterization of my previous post as just "personal opinion". It's a high-level description of a 2,500 year history of the term designating a person committed to a loosely defined set of truth-seeking practices into which Rand does not seem to comfortably fit.
- We need a definition stronger than just having more-or-less considered views about the world, how one ought to act, what the government should be doing, et cetera (and also, in many cases, being more than happy to propound these views at length to anyone who will listen). Because that would make just about everyone a philosopher, rendering the term nearly meaningless as a description of anyone.
- Perhaps something about her commitment to a systematic procedure?
- Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 22:10, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- @PatrickJWelsh: I am not going to argue about your personal view of who qualifies as a "philosopher" and I am not propounding my own. The beliefs of Misplaced Pages editors about who should be called a philosopher is not supposed to guide our decisions about article content (although you might have trouble reconciling that with much of what people say on these talk pages, cf some of the other participants so far). What I am saying is that when, e.g., Skye Cleary writes that, "Many propose that not a philosopher at all", this statement tells us that such people exist in some number, but not specifically who they are or even how many. She also doesn't say that the "philosopher" status of this "many" is incontestable. That is your own term reflecting your own view, not something stated in any source that I have seen. – therefore, as I said just a few sentences back, not something that should guide article content and not something I'm going to directly engage with here. (FWIW, Cleary indicates that her own view is that Rand is a philosopher, "just not a very good one".) Claudia Brühwiler, who argues a case against Rand being a philosopher, ironically highlights the asymmetry in other sources: In her discussion, she names dozen figures who credited Rand with being a philosopher. She names two who denied it. And it is the overall ecosystem of sources that we (should) care most about in deciding what labels to use in our article. --RL0919 (talk) 20:30, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- Rand was very concerned with the importance of philosophy – personally, socially, and historically – but not so much with philosophers, except in their functional role of generating philosophical ideas. I can't recall her defining any qualifications or other gatekeeping for who was or could be a philosopher, as long as they were producing relevant ideas. If you just accept existing ideas, however well-considered, I don't think she would call you a philosopher. People who re-transmit the ideas of others were "intellectuals" – hence the title of her first nonfiction book was For the New Intellectual because it was her giving her ideas to those she hoped would circulate them. However, while this could be interesting for the article if secondary sources can be found – the preceding was my own summary from primary sources – I don't think it speaks to the matter we were discussing. We don't generally give subjects – especially ones long dead – determinative control over their own descriptions. She would be appalled to see us revealing her legal name (thoroughly hidden during her lifetime) or describing her as an important influence on libertarianism (a movement she denounced). But sources tell us these things. If sources tell us she was a philosopher, then we can call her that regardless of whether she would have – although she did in fact use the term for herself. --RL0919 (talk) 23:55, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
- @RL0919, all right. If you ever do come across a good source on either her stated conception of her own activity as a philosopher or a scholarly reconstruction of some more specific sense in which she is well-described by the term, I would consider adding this to the article. Something along these lines would probably have assuaged my concerns at least well enough have dropped the matter fairly early in our first exchange.
- (As it stands, this still feels uncomfortably close to calling someone who has no academic training a "psychologist" on the basis of a sequence of best-selling self-help books and television appearances.)
- But I will relent to the sources you've amassed and drop the issue.
- Thank you for your patience with this exchange and for your consistent civility.
- Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 00:30, 7 December 2023 (UTC)
- @RL0919 Hello! Would it be worth suggesting that maybe the problem is defining Ayn Rand in the article as a philosopher under "occupation"? To an extent, I believe that both you and @PatrickJWelsh are correct in your points about her. Ayn Rand is publicly considered to be a philosopher by many, but this doesn't necessarily equate to what is considered being a philosopher by occupation, as Patrick points out. The common belief of what constitutes being a philosopher by occupation usually includes a college degree in philosophy of some kind (again said by Patrick), which Ayn Rand is not in possession of. She is a philosopher (individually, but not occupationally) whom communicates her philosophical ideas through what is actually her occupation, which would be her authorship. So, saying that Ayn Rand isn't a philosopher at all is something that I would argue to be incorrect. Saying that Ayn Rand is an occupational philosopher is something that I would argue to be incorrect as well. I hope that makes sense. Stun Locke (talk) 03:34, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
- That's actually a pretty good point. I don't think the problem with philosopher-as-occupation is so much about the credentials; it's the fact that, whether you consider her to be a "real" philosopher or not, it's not what she got paid for. Except in the secondary sense that people bought her books, which is covered by "author". --Trovatore (talk) 04:07, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
- Hello, Stun Locke. The only place "occupation" is mentioned is in the infobox, so I assume you are talking about that. No, the discussion from last year had nothing to do with occupation, because at that time the Occupation field said "writer"; "philosopher" was added in this edit a couple of months later. I do not particularly care whether her occupation is listed in the infobox as writer, author, philosopher, some mix of these, or not at all. Ideally this would be based on what sources say, but that can be hard because sources about people's lives are more apt to just say "X was a Y" rather than saying "Y was the occupation/profession of X". --RL0919 (talk) 18:26, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
- Rand was very concerned with the importance of philosophy – personally, socially, and historically – but not so much with philosophers, except in their functional role of generating philosophical ideas. I can't recall her defining any qualifications or other gatekeeping for who was or could be a philosopher, as long as they were producing relevant ideas. If you just accept existing ideas, however well-considered, I don't think she would call you a philosopher. People who re-transmit the ideas of others were "intellectuals" – hence the title of her first nonfiction book was For the New Intellectual because it was her giving her ideas to those she hoped would circulate them. However, while this could be interesting for the article if secondary sources can be found – the preceding was my own summary from primary sources – I don't think it speaks to the matter we were discussing. We don't generally give subjects – especially ones long dead – determinative control over their own descriptions. She would be appalled to see us revealing her legal name (thoroughly hidden during her lifetime) or describing her as an important influence on libertarianism (a movement she denounced). But sources tell us these things. If sources tell us she was a philosopher, then we can call her that regardless of whether she would have – although she did in fact use the term for herself. --RL0919 (talk) 23:55, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
Does a better profile photo exist?
She is barely recognizable in the current one. I've seen plenty more recent photos where she smiles, is dressed differently and the shadows obscure less. It looks like a different person. But I suppose we need one that is free to use for our purposes here.83.255.180.77 (talk) 22:51, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
- Yes, we are required to include only "free use" images when such are available. The one we are using is a professional publicity shot used to promote one of her books, which is in the public domain due to quirks of US copyright law. --RL0919 (talk) 00:32, 11 December 2023 (UTC)
Sentence correction edit rejected by WP bot
"Her villains support duty and collectivist moral ideals."
This sentence as published is clearly incorrect and highly misleading.
Based on personal knowledge of Ayn Rand's novels and philosophy it is clear that this sentence should be edited as follows:
"Her villains support duty and *reject* collectivist moral ideals."
Please correct the record. 2603:8001:C200:1637:F492:43CE:6A38:DF3A (talk) 12:12, 30 March 2024 (UTC)
- The bot reverted your edit because you inserted it with commentary rather than just making the change. But even if properly formatted, the change you are asking for is wrong. I'm not sure if you are misreading the sentence in the article, or if you have profoundly misunderstood Rand's views. Rand herself was opposed to collectivism, so her villains typically support collectivist morality, which is what the sentence says. Her villains definitely are not portrayed as rejecting collectivism. --RL0919 (talk) 17:12, 30 March 2024 (UTC)
- I came back to state that I was in error. My apologies. 2603:8001:C200:1637:D116:EE89:6C1C:ABB0 (talk) 21:51, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
Was Ayn Rand a Soviet Spy?
I find it suspicious that hat she was granted a visa to visit relatives in the United States. Visas to go to America and other free countries were almost never granted to Soviet citizens unless they enjoyed a position of great trust in the Communist party. In the looking-glass world of espionage, people are often the exact opposite of what they appear to be in public. 2603:7000:CF00:1202:898B:3640:2608:EAF8 (talk) 19:51, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
- If there are reliable sources to support this theory, please provide details about where they are. If not, relevant information can be found here and here. --RL0919 (talk) 01:22, 2 May 2024 (UTC)
Opposition to ethical hedonism
Ayn Rand opposed ethical hedonism, this should be specified in the lead.
Source: http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/hedonism.html 93.38.68.234 (talk) 19:48, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
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