  All or Nothing: Philosophy with Degrees (Part 3) - Objectivism's Solution
by Joseph Rowlands
How prevalent is the all or nothing approach? Keep your eyes open and you'll see plenty of examples. But the important point to take away is that degrees really matter. They may require more thinking. They may be more difficult to explain or to utilize. But they're a basic part of comprehension and you can't avoid them without sinking into blind ignorance. (Read more...)
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Saturday
September 3, 2005 |
All or Nothing: Philosophy with Degrees (Part 2) - General Reasons
by Joseph Rowlands
The all or nothing view, whether caused by rationalism, intrinsicism, or just mental sloppiness, cannot see important relationships, or maybe just doesn't care. It's not concerned with degrees, and can't deal with them. It draws very clear boundaries, and you have easy, definitive uses. It doesn't matter how close you are to the boundaries, the results are the same. (Read more...)
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All or Nothing: Philosophy with Degrees (Part 1) - A Survey of Errors
by Joseph Rowlands
I’m going to talk about a widespread pattern of philosophical errors, which I refer to as the “all or nothing” mentality. The basic problem is an inability to see things in terms of degrees. Instead, everything is viewed as all or nothing. It’s either 100 percent, or 0 percent, with nothing in between. (Read more...)
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What's Wrong with a Little Injustice?
by Joseph Rowlands
In my recent article, "Those Tough Choices," I gave an example of lending money to a friend. I suggested that if the money is lent without formal agreement, it can be abused by the borrower, who may delay repayment, even when he has enough to pay back. It may seem like a lot of hassle. Isn't it reasonable to ask why someone should go through such hurdles? (Read more...)
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Objectivism: Not Just a Better Set of Rules
by Joseph Rowlands
Perhaps they think that Objectivist morality is just another set of rules, just like other obedience-based moralities. They may even believe that it's a better set of rules. They can argue that since the rules are designed to enhance your life, the rules work better in practice. (Read more...)
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Those Tough Choices
by Joseph Rowlands
A man has a dilemma. He's cheated on his wife, and now he has to decide what he's going to do. Now he has to choose between telling her or keeping it a secret. Even if she decides not to leave him, she may never trust him again. If he decides not to tell her, he's got a different set of problems. What should he do? How does Objectivism help him decide on a course of action? (Read more...)
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 The Path of Most Resistance
by Joseph Rowlands
This is the story of a man. Let's call him Bob. He's a young man in a good college, very bright, and with a huge future ahead of himself. The sky is the limit, and he can do anything he sets his mind to. It's the picture-perfect benevolent universe premise. (Read more...)
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Virtue Dichotomies
by Joseph Rowlands
Virtues must be a synthesis of productivity and rationality, or they fall into the camp of the mind-body dichotomy. They would discuss the morality of how you think, but in a way that's severed from how you act. (Read more...)
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Two Halves of Independence
by Joseph Rowlands
In Objectivist discussion of independence, the focus has generally been on the virtue of thinking for yourself. Independent judgment is viewed as the primary component of the virtue. You need to use your own best judgment when it comes to determining your values, considering facts, or deciding how to act. This is in... (Read more...)
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Bad Philosophy Is Inconsistent
by Joseph Rowlands
Bad philosophy has a number of effects, even though it isn't practiced consistently. We don't expect it to be practiced consistently. But we've seen that when it really matters, your philosophical views become important and bad philosophy will impact your life. We've also shown that the more frequent problems come from the unseen effects of a bad philosophical view. What you miss is as important as what you mistakenly believe. (Read more...)
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Philosophy vs. Science
by Joseph Rowlands
If scientists try to divorce themselves from philosophy by ignoring it, they will fall victim to it. And worse, they probably won't know it. Philosophy is concerned with one's fundamental premises, and sets the stage for how you interpret the evidence of your senses. (Read more...)
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Utopianism
by Joseph Rowlands
Any attempt at a rational improvement of the world will necessarily involve contrasting what we have with what we think is better. If the mere act of claiming something is better is considered utopian, there's no possible way of improving. If we're afraid of projecting ideals, we'll always be stuck where we are now. (Read more...)
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SOLO In Review, Part 3: Pyramid Of Activism
by Joseph Rowlands
"We seek nothing less than to change the world." - SOLO Credo (Read more...)
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SOLO In Review, Part 2: Principles Of An Objectivist Forum
by Joseph Rowlands
The benefits of moderation quickly became clear. A group of fascists decided to try to impress us with their intellectual abilities by shouting obscenities and death threats. Foreshadowing a theme made by most of the later insane people, they tried to win arguments by posting as often as they could. That's easy to do when you're not stymied by trying to be intelligent or holding down a job. (Read more...)
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SOLO In Review, Part 1: In The Beginning
by Joseph Rowlands
What is it that we hope to accomplish? How successful have we been? What lessons have we learned along the way? And where do we see it all going? (Read more...)
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Transitioning to Self-Interest
by Joseph Rowlands
A worldview is not like a political party, where you can just join another by signing a piece of paper. It is fundamentally the way you view the world and how your life fits in it, and that's not something that changes overnight. In this article, I just want to touch on some of the issues that can be problems for people who are trying to adopt the Objectivist morality. (Read more...)
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 A Ban on Objectivist Cloning
by Joseph Rowlands
If ideas are destroying the world, provide better ideas. (Read more...)
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 Introverts, Extroverts, and Howard Roark
by Joseph Rowlands
[Editor's note, in his capacity as Founder & Principal - one of the chief values of SOLO was always going to be, & has been, its smashing of false dichotomies over & above those identified by Ayn Rand. I believe I have identified a couple of these myself, but I confess the extrovert-introvert one, so comprehensively busted in this article, is one that never occurred to me. Joe, I'm proud of you! Again! - Linz]
The introvert and extrovert concepts are supposed to deal with motivations and character traits. That's why shy people are considered to be introverts, while the party animals are considered extroverts. But there's one person who screws up this whole view of introvert vs. extrovert. His name is Howard Roark. (Read more...)
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 Are You Saying That You Don't Love Me?
by Joseph Rowlands
Love is something seen as getting in the way of one's self-interest, instead of as an embodiment of that self-interest. It's seen as an end in itself, with no apparent cause, and certainly not one that's tied to the achievement of value. This is what makes it possible for people to be reassured when someone makes a huge sacrifice on their behalf. (Read more...)
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 Sacred Sex, Animalistic Sex, and Other Seductive Theories
by Joseph Rowlands
The opposite of a bad idea is not always a good idea, and there's no substitute for thinking. (Read more...)
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The Thousand Faces of Altruism
by Joseph Rowlands
Altruism doesn't have a goal. There is no good reason behind this "other people" principle. Any particular variety of altruism is as good as any other. They're all equally pointless. (Read more...)
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Philosophy Gone Wrong
by Joseph Rowlands
Having a conversation with someone I know, the discussion went to philosophy as it often does. We quickly came to disagreements because we had very different views on what the purpose of philosophy is. (Read more...)
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The Idealism-Pragmatism Dichotomy
by Joseph Rowlands
By rejecting the crazy notion of living by 'principles' that just get in the way of living, pragmatism jumps down the opposite sewer. It says that principles are impractical, and you should just do what's practical. How do you know what's practical? Just do it, and see if it works! (Read more...)
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Creating Political Pressure Groups
by Joseph Rowlands
When you make your choice on which candidate will do the most damage, keep in mind the wider context provided by this principle. A bad law that’s temporary is one thing. A bad law that’s permanent is quite another. (Read more...)
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SOLO: Past, Present and Future
by Joseph Rowlands
I just got back from a few weeks visiting Mr. Perigo in NZ. Aside from relaxation, good food, and good company, we spent a bit of time discussing SOLO. Periodically we try to go through what we've accomplished, and what we should be doing in the foreseeable future. We went through our old lists, and created some new lists in the process. (Read more...)
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