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Existence is Identity, Consciousness is Identity, A is A, Man is Man
Author:Sudha Amit

Apr

21



Atlas Shrugged

“This is John Galt speaking…”
PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE & FOUR

PART FIVE

I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine. (Ayn Rand)

 

As we head into the weekend, we’re thinking about Ayn Rand. And you should be, too, if you’re worried about the current state of capitalism.
That’s because BB&T, a North Carolina bank, has donated over $30 million to 27 universities, including the University of North Carolina Charlotte, with the understanding that “Atlas Shrugged” would become required reading for students, according to Bloomberg. Last month BB&T agreed to donate $2 million to the University of Texas at Austin to create a chair in Objectivism, which would be the first in the country
Read More

 

Answer to it…

The Argument from Intimidation is the attempt to substitute psychological pressure for rational argument. In Rand’s words:

It is a method of bypassing logic by means of psychological pressure … [It] consists of threatening to impeach an opponent’s character by means of his argument, thus impeaching the argument without debate. Example: “Only the immoral can fail to see that Candidate X’s argument is false.” … The falsehood of his argument is asserted arbitrarily and offered as proof of his immorality.

In today’s epistemological jungle, [this] method is used more frequently than any other type of irrational argument. It should be classified as a logical fallacy and may be designated as “The Argument from Intimidation.”

The essential characteristic of the Argument from Intimidation is its appeal to moral self-doubt and its reliance on the fear, guilt or ignorance of the victim. It is used in the form of an ultimatum demanding that the victim renounce a given idea without discussion, under threat of being considered morally unworthy. The pattern is always: “Only those who are evil (dishonest, heartless, insensitive, ignorant, etc.) can hold such an idea.”
read more at Should Heidi Moore Read Ayn Rand?

 

I’ve said enough here and here about the absurdity of the ongoing attacks against John Allison and BB&T for taking a rationally principled approach to educational grants, so I won’t address that issue again here. But I cannot resist pointing out that if Heidi Moore had read and understood Ayn Rand’s works, she might have thought twice about so brazenly and publicly engaging in one of the irrational tactics identified by Ayn Rand: The Argument from Intimidation.

 

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Filed under: Ethics, Film Review, Inspiration, Objectivism, Philosophy, Reason

10 Responses to “Existence is Identity, Consciousness is Identity, A is A, Man is Man”

  1. Comfortably Numb Says:

    April 21st, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    And yea I would love to explain the true meaning of the poem. Just incase you wanna know!

    Cheers!

  2. Dragon Says:

    April 21st, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    loved every part of it.Nice one and a novel way to xpress ur self..

  3. Manu Says:

    April 21st, 2008 at 11:29 pm

    intresting one..accidently stumbled upon urs..found it nice..lookin forward to future posts.btw ayn rand fan?

  4. unpretentious_diva Says:

    April 22nd, 2008 at 12:42 am

    @Manu
    Nope, I am Objectivist, I am fan of reason alone!

  5. Wireless Says:

    April 21st, 2008 at 3:27 pm

    Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog,

  6. arun21 Says:

    April 22nd, 2008 at 2:23 am

    Nice one ! Loved it.
    Do have a look in the yahoo threat in ” Technically speaking ” at http://www.cyberarun.blogspot.com

  7. Abhisek Pandey Says:

    April 22nd, 2008 at 3:25 am

    Renaissance…lol!! and yeah, the first cartoon is hilarious. :P

    nice to listen to John Galt after a long time.

  8. Gagan Says:

    April 22nd, 2008 at 8:20 am

    very nice post !! going to add ur blog to my favourites !

  9. Tina Says:

    April 22nd, 2008 at 6:03 pm

    John Galt…gooood stuff…..neat post….i had to comment on this one the moment i saw the videos u posted…interesting stuff…

    Keep it up
    Cheers
    Tee

  10. C R D Says:

    April 22nd, 2008 at 8:45 pm

    loved it.Nice one and a novel way to xpress ur self..

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