AP Language & Composition, Blog Two

"I worship individuals for their highest possibilities as individuals ,

and I loathe humanity, for its failure to live up to these possibilities."

Assignment

(Due Tuesday, 9.30):

1.) Read Anthem, Introduction & Author's Forward (pp. 6-16)

2.) On your blog page, answer question a and two of the other four questions below (so three total). Be sure to address all facets of the question(s) in depth and that you are supporting your opinions with textual evidence. If there is a link (or several) provided, you must read it first in order to formulate an answer.

3.) Leave at least one comment for a peer on their blog post for this week.

Question Options (Select Three to Answer)

• a. ~ In the Introduction to Anthem, Leonard Peikoff (arguably the world's foremost Ayn Rand scholar) writes, "But reason is a property of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain." Do you agree or disagree? Consider concepts such as group think, sheeple and conformity within a society in your answer. If Peikoff wrote this in 1994, on the cusp of the computer revolution and the advent of the internet, do you think his view (and perhaps Rand's as well) would have changed if he knew the direction technology was going in? Could one day super-computers achieve the capabilities of a collective or global brain? For instance, if a single superhuman intelligence had access to all the knowledge and resources in the world, what could it do? What strategies would it pursue? How quickly could it respond to changes (economic, climate, political, etc)? And - most importantly - how closely could we approximate the behavior of this imaginary superhuman intelligence to that of real people ... if at all? Will computers, at best, provide an "outboard brain" or could they replace ours entirely? If so, then what happens when the motherboard crashes or the power goes out?

• b. ~ Read Peikoff's What Philosophy Is, and How to Study It?. When asked to state her own philosophy a year before she wrote Anthem, Rand replied, "To make life a reason unto itself. I know what I want up to the age of two hundred. Know what you want in life and go after it. I worship individuals for their highest possibilities as individuals , and I loathe humanity, for its failure to live up to these possibilities." Of what possibilities is Rand referring to? Why can individuals, in Rand's opinion, and not humanity as a whole, live up to these possibilities? Next, read Peikoff's What is Man? and finish the final sentence; Ayn Rand looked at men and saw ...

• c. ~ In Anthem's Introduction Rand mentions, "religion's monopoly in the field of ethics" and "the murk of mysticism" which has "turned morality against man". Her books are even said to "wage war against" the ideals of the sacred. Do you agree or disagree with this point of view on religion/mysticism and morality? Rand was an outspoken atheist who believed there were such things as godless morals and values. She did not attack specific religions, but the very idea of organized religion itself. Take a moment to read this one individual's explanation. Can man reason his/her way to an ethical and moral life alone or do they need religion as a guide? Does religion do more to help or hurt man's struggle to "deal with reality and survive"?

• d. ~ Peikoff references America in the Introduction by saying, "the country of individualism was finally allowed to discover Ayn Rand's novel of individualism." What does he mean by country of individualism? Is individualism the same as freedom? Does your view of America clash with or collaborate Ayn Rand's definition of individualism? How does China's culture of collectivism, witnessed at the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony, present a stark contrast to America's ideals.

• e. ~ In the Author's Forward, Rand writes, "The necessity of a social justification for all activities and all existence is now taken for granted. There is no proposal outrageous enough but what its author can get a respectful hearing and approbation if he claims that in some undefined way it is for 'the common good'. Read Rand's, The Only Path to Tomorrow and evaluate her stance on this idea of the "common good" and how it can be used as a tool for rationalization.