Smith-Hughes

Quote from Felipe: "Third, the underlying principle of this board is that it is a place for people to exchange ideas. As such, I hope you will have something to contribute--even if it may only be the intellectual effort it takes to try to understand Objectivist principles--rather than just tossing out a problem and asking us to solve it." I am sorry to offend you by posing a simple question. I wasn't simply "tossing out a problem". i am just trying to stay true to objectivist principles in my education. Your post sounded quite pious to me and I don't appreciate it. If we can't discuss topics, problems or philosophical dilemmas then where do i go to "toss out questions" I guess christianity is not the only place that Piousness and self-righteousness prevail!

hello all, I am a med student. Actually a poor med student. I have found that certain companies will award scholarship $ for papers written on a topic of their choice. (ARI does this also) I am currently researching for a fellowship paper that is causing me some trouble. I am sort of new to Objectivism, but have embraced every bit that I have learned. I want to inject Objectivism into this paper but am having trouble. Let me give you the topic and then you can help me !! The Topic: "The great aim of the struggle for liberty has been equality before the law" quote by F.A. Hayek, Nobel Laureate in Economics I am supposed to Postulate on this in a paper no longer that 3000 words. I really would appreciate any help on the objectivist thought to this subject !! Thanks Sterling Smith [email protected] sterling0601.blogspot.com

"... the really fundamental instinct of life which aims at the expansion of power ... The great and small struggle always revolves around superiority, around growth and expansion, around power -- in accordance with the will to power which is the will of life." (The Gay Science, Book V, section 349) I have seen a pattern in Nietzsche's writing and it is that the will to power lies within every drive of every person; each drive strives to become master over the other drives, strives for power so that it might be expressed--when a drive becomes master, we obey, and thus life is a continuum of commanding and obeying. "Life is will to power," says Nietzsche, and it is precisely because the will to power is life, the force of life, the ongoing inexhaustible spirit of life, as a fire that never ceases to burn. I am still not sure how this lines up with Objecivism in an epistomological way. Let's get to the facts !!

A quote i have found in my research this morning are: "Spencer says,'life itself has been defined as an increasingly efficient inner adaptation to external circumstances' but this is to misunderstand the essence of life, its will to power; we overlook the prime importance which the spontaneous , aggresive, expansive, re-interpreting, re-directing, and formative powers have , which adaptation follows only when they have had their effect" Nietzsche

I will have to verify where Nietzsche spoke about "will to power" so I am not absolutely sure what the proper definition of power would be, though I believe that he was speaking metaphorically. I also think that he applied his belief to everything such as rocks, waves etc. In the meantime, I hope others have some thoughts on this subject.

Nietzsche observes that the "will to power" is the essence of life and is the defining characteristic of life. From this follows his philosophy in large part. How does Objectivism respond to the observation or perception that all things essentially are seeking power for the preservation and growth of their existence?