Objectivism
From Free Talk Live
Objectivism is a philosophy developed by Ayn Rand that encompasses positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. According to Ayn Rand:
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.
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Summary of Objectivist politics
As from the quote, Objectivism focuses essentially on the nature of the individual, from metaphysics to politics. In the sphere of politics, Ayn Rand and Objectivists, consider the moral and economic good of an individual superior to that of the common or collective good since it has been generally argued that the individual good is the only kind of good that can be quantified. In essence, Objectivism only allows for freedoms when it is of the individual so long as said individual does not behave in a manner that conflicts with the rights of other individuals.
The nature of rights
From Objectivist Epistemology and Metaphysics, it is concluded that concepts about things, specifically entities, are not inherent, so when one considers rights as a consequent of observing humans as an Objectivist, it is concluded that rights too are also not inherent for the same reason that concepts are not inherent. This reasoning extends specifically on the grounds that rights are concepts of a kind, thus their application is based on context in that said context depends on individual humans involved as opposed to non-rational non-humans. Rights in this frame of reference also extend and retract from context to context. In one context of the public square, free speech is allowed, in another context, on private property, free speech is not allowed since to force another human being to give up her or his right to control her or his private property would violate another right. Essentially, rights are reduced to functions that best given individual humans the means to do actions that do not impede the action of other humans or rational beings. This view of rights also can be coupled to Objectivist Ethics, which also follows the same reasoning that context changes the effects of a proposition or concept.
The nature of government
Rand posited that government is a necessary institution to ensure rights. The reasoning behind this considers the proposition of if everything were left to the population of people on the whole, assuming that the whole is unable to digest or conceive the proposition of rights, thus is unable to ensure their universal access by all rational agents. The justification for this claim can be considered from many sources, one source would be Rand's own personal experience of the Soviet Revolution in her early years, which colored her views in particular against anarchism since many pseudo-anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists rallied beside Vladimir Ulyanov ( aka Lenin ). Another case example could be the common examination of the mob mentality and risky shift as found in case studies and experiments in psychology. By this reasoning that groups or collectives are the worse judges for the sustainment of rights, it is considered best to use a government that is static in its contractual bounds to people on the whole to ensure these rights.
Conversely, it can be argued that the collective can easily assert control over the government to supersede the contractual bounds that are intended to limit it, thus overriding its functions, and perverting it to the ends of such a collective. This can be validated by many case studies of government takeovers in human history, which were preceded by a popular outcry for such a takeover. Yet, the fundamental difference between Rand's vision and the commonly held practice of government is that hers is more akin to Ludwig Von Mises' vision, but without infinite cession.
