tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post479846815714092203..comments2024-03-19T07:48:54.021-06:00Comments on Gus Van Horn: Pragmatism vs. Your Freedom and TimeGus Van Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-1241157804141068072008-01-31T11:06:00.000-06:002008-01-31T11:06:00.000-06:00Thanks, Charlie!WRT voting, join the club!We're at...Thanks, Charlie!<BR/><BR/>WRT voting, <A HREF="http://gusvanhorn.blogspot.com/2008/01/quick-roundup-296.html#comments" REL="nofollow">join the club</A>!<BR/><BR/>We're at the point where your friend's joking suggestion would almost work. Bleh.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-62390591797501359572008-01-31T10:43:00.000-06:002008-01-31T10:43:00.000-06:00Great post, Gus.In other words, ordinary voters, a...Great post, Gus.<BR/><BR/><I>In other words, ordinary voters, already suspicious of principles due to the cultural penetrance of Pragmatism, are confronted by a mountain of minutiae each election, and <B>advocates of increasingly loony and dangerous political crusades as examples of principled people. </B></I><BR/><BR/>This was exactly what I was thinking as I was reading the post. Not only has Pragmatism seemingly taken over, the flip side is that a nutcase theocrat is held up as a man of principle. People are rightly suspicious of government, and when a politician who spouts dogmatic lunacy is held up as a principled idealist, people seem to say "well, if THAT's what it's like to have principles, I don't want any part of it!"<BR/><BR/>As a result, someone with actual principles who tries to argue a point rationally is greeted with suspicion. "Wow. He keeps refering to individual rights... doesn't he know that there are no absolutes and nothing is black & white?"<BR/><BR/>I still have no idea who I might vote for. All the candidates are so despicable, I don't know that I can stomach voting for any of them. If I vote at all -- because if I vote republican my vote will be meaningless (I live in MA) -- I'll likely go for the candidate most likely to create gridlock in Washington. Because if no laws can get passed, at least they aren't making things worse.<BR/><BR/>A friend actually said jokingly that if he were to run, he'd run on the platform of "For every 1 law that is passed, we'll revoke 5 old laws". Wouldn't that be great?C. Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05860759500684485756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-49587249360383911652008-01-24T07:11:00.000-06:002008-01-24T07:11:00.000-06:00I bought a copy of the ARL long ago and it has bee...I bought a copy of the ARL long ago and it has been my most important reference since I started blogging. In addition to no longer having to enter text by hand when I want to quote from it, I like the fact that I can hyperlink to it. This is a great way to get people who might be inclined to do so to browse through it.<BR/><BR/>I seem to recall that Ayn Rand joked that when the ARL came out that people could look up "baby" and see that she doesn't advocate eating them for breakfast. Now, thanks to the Internet, even more people can do this!Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-1819095060873614492008-01-24T06:44:00.000-06:002008-01-24T06:44:00.000-06:00"I seem to be [...] linking to The Ayn Rand Lexico..."I seem to be [...] linking to The Ayn Rand Lexicon quite a lot, as well...."<BR/><BR/>For good reason. I have found the ARL to be the most important one-volume resource for Ayn Rand's philosophy as contained in her writings and the writings of a few people working under her editorial supervision. (Leonard Peikoff, <I>Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand</I>, is an excellent way to see the integration of her philosophy as a whole once the reader has investigated all his own special interests in the philosophy.)<BR/><BR/>The rigorous structure of the excerpts (definitions first, applications later) and the thorough cross-references are two of the very helpful features.<BR/><BR/>I prefer my print copy for most of my work. It allows me to write notes in the margins, or even insert whole sheets between the pages. Thus the volume is cumulative. However, the online version is very helpful for quick reference and for copying text.Burgess Laughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com