BaseballGenius

1. Nobody before her thought the standard of ethics should be based on each person's life? 2. Do you remember what chapter in ITOE?

What has Ayn Rand added to philosophy? Some of the ideas of her philosophy had been figured out prior to her, so what things had she herself figured out for philosophy?

Say, property owner Jezebelle hires private fire extinguishing company A to protect her home. Company A puts out a fire on Jezebelle's neighbors' property and damages the property. If Jezebelle's neighbor decides to sue for damages, would the neighbor sue Jezebelle or Company A? And assuming Jezebelle's neighbor doesnt have coverage by a fire company, could Company A sue the neighbor for "potential damages" they could have caused, expenses for extinguishing his fire, or for putting their lives on the line?

But couldnt that property owner still sue a stranger for putting out the fire? I understand what you're saying about morally right, but that seems like it might be different in this case to legal rights, right?

There are many possibilities how and where a fire is burning, so is there an objective definition explaining when a man's rights are being threatened?

What if you're not a nearby neighbor? Can any individual go on that person's property without permission and try to put out the fire? By what standard can you judge if a man's rights are being "threatened"?

A free society would consist only of private firefighting companies, right? That would mean each property owner would have the option of signing a contract with one of those companies. But if there is a fire on a property that has no contract with any company, does the potential of the fire(spreading to other properties) give the companies a right to go on their property and distinguish the fire?

I've seen a few people misinterpret what I tried to say initially, so I'll clarify. I said: "The plaintiff sued the defendant because the defendant smashed the plaintiff's car." Some are mistaking this to mean that the defendant borrowed the plaintiff's car, but thats not the case. I should have said the defendant smashed into the plaintiff's car. These people have never met prior the this incident.

The car was stolen in a "nice" neighborhood, assumably not a high-crime area. He left it with the keys in the ignition, doors unlocked. He left the car unattended for several hours.

The question though, is if the defendant is liable for the damages of the plaintiffs car.

Just to clarify, the keys were in the ignition and the doors were unlocked. The reason why the plaintiff didnt sue the robber of the vehicle was because the robber ran away after he crashed the car. The plaintiff said he talked to the robber for a minute and then the robber suddenly ran away into the night.

The plaintiff sued the defendant because the defendant smashed the plaintiff's car. The defendant said his car was stolen and thats when it was crashed. The defendant admits he left his keys in his vehicle(while on his property) for a long period of time(he felt ill after grocery shopping). In the end, Judge Alex made the judgement in favor for the plaintiff because under state law it is illegal to keep your keys in your vehicle while unattended. Therefore, Judge Alex claimed the defendant was liable for the damages to the plaintiffs car. Is this a good law?

Relax, and dont be so meticulous about things like that. All you need to be concerned about is acting the way you think you should act. How other people react to your actions is out of your control.

No, I'm not a model. I just look like one.

Atlas Shrugged has been delayed In an interview with Angelina Jolie: She had a little more to say about the adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, which is moving forward very slowly, despite having the Plan B powerhouse of Pitt and Jolie behind it. Angelina told me that the project is still on the table, but "the thing with Atlas is just, we all feel that it's one of those projects where if you can't do it right, you really can't touch it. So we have not had all the pieces come together. There's not been a director that's right to come on, or all of those elements. So until it does, you know, I certainly don't want to be a part of something that's just put together to hit 'this date.'" http://idiie.cinematical.com/2007/06/17/an...gged-is-stalle/

I just moved to Charlotte, NC so these activities will actually be year round for me, but nonetheless they are in my summer plans. Playing baseball, weight lifting, tanning, watching movies and baseball games, read at the library, write in my Journal. I like activities where they arent only enjoyable, but also where I can see progression with them. These activities pretty much make up my whole life, I dont have any variation. And thats how I like it, because it allows me to focus and improve more. I'm still looking to add one more activity to my routine though. Feel free to add suggestions based on my current interests.

Sorry, but I just cant understand whats wrong with what I'm saying. All I'm saying is that happiness is the achievement of one's rational values.

Why cant the standard of his actions be what contributes to his happiness? Why cant an immortal man be happy? For instance, if a cure for death had been figured out, then all of a sudden humans couldnt be happy anymore? I dont see how the achievements of your values wouldnt bring you happiness any longer. You just get to live longer.

A rational value supports your happiness if it's achieved, while an irrational value is the opposite. What state of mind are in when youre inbetween the accomplishment of those projects and working again? Just focused and unaware of your emotional state? What are "projects", exactly?

No, they are two different things, although certain physical pleasure can contribute to your happiness. Happiness means you feel in control of your life and achieve your rational values. I have a quick question for you. I know you are a veteran in life and apply Objectivism consistently to your decisions. How do you regularly feel, psychologically? Is it a strong contentedness or what?

I think youre missing one thing. An immortal man may not be able to die in the physical sense, but that doesnt mean he cant be happy. So that right there gives his decisions a standard of value.

Thats not quite it. What I dont like is the lack of pleasure in my life. I love playing baseball but I have never been able to think of another activity that really makes my blood bubble. Baseball takes up an hour or so each day and that leaves the rest of the day for boredom(going to work, watching tv, minute activities). I want another thing that I would really look forward to doing each day. What I dont like about the length of our current human lives is that I will end up striving hard for a long term goal(such as playing pro baseball) and when I finally reach that goal, I can only enjoy the accomplishment for such a short time because human health inevitably decreases over time. If humans lived extremely long lives in good health, then they could enjoy their accomplshments for a longer time. Of course, they would probably get sick of the activity eventually.

Thats where Im at right now. I want more though. I was thinking if I was playing in the Major Leagues how much of a difference it would make or would even that only raise the degree of pleasure from happiness a little. Im going to take back what I said about that. I was just in a bad mood. Now that my thoughts arent so tainted, I can tell you that I usually am in a contented mood even when I notice flaws with something Im doing. It doesnt bring me down if I fail at something where it was in a reasonable situation to possibly fail. I just moved to Charlotte a week or two ago and I think that I was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the things I needed to learn, get, and organize. I dodo those things. They make the experience more enjoyable but I still wouldnt call it exciting. Once again, its contentedness. Are you sure a girl wouldnt add the spice to my life that Im looking for?

No, I havent completely either. But will it make that much of a difference in terms of how much excitement we feel towards life? Maybe an "old" person could chip in their observations on it.

I guess I posted this when you posted your post: "I was hoping happiness was this ultimate daily high, equivalent to as if I was having sex all day." Thats a bit extreme. The first option you gave describes it better: "physical sensation of elation which you experience after you have accomplished a personal goal." Do you know how to get to that point?