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Are you a dogmatist posing as an O'ist?

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Are you a dogmatic Objectivist? I have been reading The Art of Nonfiction which states you must not use propaganda in writing fiction. What she says about dogmatists who turn Objectivism into a religion is damning! Do you consider yourself to just use catchphrases at the proper moments or do you constantly think about the abstraction at hand?

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I have not read The Art of Nonfiction yet, but I can directly see why an Objectivist dogmatist would have to be a contradiction in terms. Anyone who has not personally validated any Objectivist statements or principals they use should NOT call themself an Objectivist because they are negating their own thought process and instead are supplementing it with "groupthink". And I don't think anything could be any more anti-Objectivist than that.

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This one is very tough not to fall under, at least it was in my case. Since I am a writer and Objectivist, I wanted to write stories that express Objectivism. My problems was that I realized that even though I might have a good idea for the story, the motivation behind these ideas were strictly propaganda. I have since corrected my thinking and have thrown out all ideas with this motivation behind it.

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Are you a dogmatic Objectivist? I have been reading The Art of Nonfiction which states you must not use propaganda in writing fiction.

Is this an actual quote? I'm not quite sure how 'propaganda' is being used here, but on my understanding of the term it would be absurd to claim that Atlas Shrugged (for instance) isnt propaganda. This obviously doesnt prevent it from being an amazing book; indeed it adds to its appeal.

The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.
Edited by Hal
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Is this an actual quote? I'm not quite sure how 'propaganda' is being used here, but on my understanding of the term it would be absurd to claim that Atlas Shrugged (for instance) isnt propaganda. This obviously doesnt prevent it from being an amazing book; indeed it adds to its appeal.

In my copy of The Art of Nonfiction it says: "I (Ayn Rand) propagandize for Objectivism constantly, in various degrees. But I bring it in, not by proving it, but by tying a given subject to it's wider implications. That is because I am a theoretician-and it is something you should not yet emulate. "

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A dogmatic person can't be a real Objectivist, since Objectivism upholds individual thought and judgement above all.

However, there are dogmatists (and other psychos) who borrow some of their dogmas from Objectivism, and even call themselves Objectivist.

Also, there are a lot of Objectivists, especially young people new to Objectivism, who haven't fully grasped Objectivism and hold some sort of rationalistic super-structure instead of well defined principles.

You can identify these people easily - when they start treating the silliest things as immoral (like altruistically-themed computer games, or writing Objectivism with a lowercase o).

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You can identify these people easily - when they start treating the silliest things as immoral (like altruistically-themed computer games

Hmm, I actually think that the choice of an altruistic theme for anything is an immoral choice.

or writing Objectivism with a lowercase o).

Don't you know that CAPITALism is the only moral system??

:) :)

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Hmm, I actually think that the choice of an altruistic theme for anything is an immoral choice.

I agree and isn't that the way a young person new to Objectivism might first learn application of the principle. I think it's unfair to categorize it as *silly, rationalistic dogmatism*

Don't you know that CAPITALism is the only moral system??

;):D

:lol: I like that :pimp:

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I actually think that the choice of an altruistic theme for anything is an immoral choice.
The choice, then, was made the person who decided on the theme (of the "altruistically-themed computer game"). However, choosing to play an altruistic-themed computer game is a different type of choice.

Don't you know that CAPITALism is the only moral system??
:) Good one.
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Excellent point studentofobjectivism.

I myself used to do that, and as a result, the conversation couldn't go much further than that because I hadn't thought it out. I thought that somehow the statement was self-explanitory.

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