Listener Question on Objectivism & Religion (Show 064)
Hello everyone, sorry for the delayed show notes. From now on, I will be posting a place holder for the show notes with a very brief description of the topic on the day of the show. Within a day or two after, I will add a more detailed description. This way it will be easier to make comments about the show ASAP and to check the site or RSS feed for the show’s topic if you missed it . Now for the notes on Show 064:
This was a shorter show to make up for the very long show last week (which was very good). The topic was a question from a frequent listener of talkObjectivism who asks: Can you be a supporter of Objectivism and still go to church?
The answer to this question depends on what you mean by “supporter of Objectivism” and why exactly you’re going to church. Does “supporter of Objectivism” mean an Objectivist or someone who accepts some of the Objectivist ideas but not necessarily all of them? Are you going to church because you’re religious, because it’s convention with your family, or are you just visiting? Mosley and Arthur discuss their views on various interpretations of this question. A short answer is that someone can support some views of Objectivism while still holding some religious views, but the two are so diametrically opposed that this can not go far. Religion, for example, upholds the supernatural, mysticism, and altruism, whereas Objectivism stands for objective reality, reason, and selfishness.
Other related topics include: Accepting religion in only some parts of one’s life; how and to what extent irrational people can experience happiness; religious and secular conceptions of duty; discussion of socialism, communism, altruism, and sacrifice; how to deal with religious friends.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:52 am
> “For example, religion advocates faith, mysticism, and altruism.”
Ayn Rand, in her speech at Yale University in 1960, notes that reason and mysticism are opposites, and that faith is one _kind_ of mysticism. (See Ayn Rand, “Faith and Force,” reprinted in _Philosophy: Who Needs It_, pp. 75-75 (hb).) In that light, I would characterize religion as advocating two worlds (natural and supernatural), mysticism, and altruism.
Mystics differ in their particular claims to having an avenue to knowledge outside reason: faith, instinct, revelation, intuition, revelation, and “just knowing.” Of course, some mystics might claim two or more forms of mysticism.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Thank you for making that clarification. I amended the relevant sentences.