h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Philosophy

Posted Apr 22, 2003

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2003

Finished reading Leonard Peikoff's "Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand." It is a fasinating text, which cleared up many former unknowns for me.

For example:

1. Your plane crashes on a desert island. All your comrades are dead. You will not be rescued for several weeks. There is no food on the island. Should you eat your dead friends?

The moral answer is "yes". The moral standard of man is his own life. Therefore its preservation is your ultimate goal. In eating your dead friends, you are preserving your life. With this in mind, one should eat one's dead friends and do it proudly, knowing you are doing the moral thing.

2. Your friend's wife dies. He does not know. Should you lie to him, and tell him his wife is alive, or tell him the truth, knowing it will greatly sadden him?

The moral answer is that you should tell him the truth. By not telling your friend the truth, one is being fundementally anti-reality. Since to survive, man must accept reality as a fact, then one is being fundementally anti-life in not telling your friend the truth about his wife. In this situation, to be moral, one must tell one's friend the truth.

For more information on the subject of Objectivism, you could read Leonard Peikoff's "Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand" or contact me.

******

Allan the

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