Patrick N.

Where does Objectivism use the phrase "consciousness exists?" I don't remember seeing that phrase before. A reference to a specific book and page number would be helpful.

A dictatorship oppresses, kills, and enslaves the individuals who live under it. Such governments DO NOT HAVE ANY legitimacy or sovereignty. Only a government that respects and upholds man’s rights has any right to exist. Nazi Germany had no sovereignty, the USSR had none, and Saddam’s Iraq had none. Also, what do you mean by “the people?” There is no such thing as "the people." There are only individuals. And many Iraqi individuals were gassed, tortured and killed by your "sovereign" dictatorship. Any semi-free nation that wanted to invade Iraq could have morally done so, if they deemed it to be in their self-interest. There is no such thing as a right to enslave. There is no such thing as legitimate mass murder of a nation’s citizens by its own government.

That makes two of us who do not agree that a slaveholding state is a proper government.

You are saying that it would be immoral to help runaway slaves????

1. Ayn Rand (100%) 2. Nietzsche (58%) 3. John Stuart Mill (56%) 4. Thomas Hobbes (53%) 5. David Hume (52%) 6. Plato (52%) 7. Cynics (51%) 8. Kant (51%) 9. Aristotle (50%) 10. Epicureans (47%) 11. Jean-Paul Sartre (46%) 12. St. Augustine (43%) 13. Jeremy Bentham (42%) 14. Prescriptivism (40%) 15. Stoics (40%) 16. Aquinas (39%) 17. Spinoza (38%) 18. Ockham (25%) 19. Nel Noddings (14%)

Excellent! I LOVE Ducktales!

You are very welcome. I hope you enjoy your trip!

Perhaps it is you who should take a refresher course in how to spell. For starters, learn to spell the word “grammar.”

I have found the discussion of death by Epicuris (341–270 B.C.) to be very helpful. He said: "Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that which cannot exist when I do?" And: "Grow accustomed to the belief that death is nothing to us, since every good and evil lie in sensation. However, death is the deprivation of sensation. Therefore, correct understanding that death is nothing to us makes a mortal life enjoyable, not by adding an endless span of time but by taking away the longing for immortality. For there is nothing dreadful in life for the man who has truly comprehended that there is nothing terrible in not living. Therefore, foolish is the man who says that he fears death, not because it will cause pain when it arrives but because anticipation of it is painful. What is no trouble when it arrives is an idle worry in anticipation. Death, therefore -- the most dreadful of evils -- is nothing to us, since while we exist, death is not present, and whenever death is present, we do not exist. It is nothing either to the living or the dead, since it does not exist for the living, and the dead no longer are."

Iran vs. Rio is quite a contrast! I would say the philosophical implication is one of hatred of life vs. passion for life. I think I'll write about South American dancing. It's something worth spending time thinking and writing about, rather than the more depressing aspects of South American culture.

Latin America is so steeped in collectivism and mysticism that I am hardly surprised they are so backwards. It is very unfortunate.

The paper is for a 200 level history class. In another history class with the same instructor I have already contrasted Mesoamerican religion with Greek philosophy, never hiding my horror at the Mesoamerican practices nor my admiration for the Greeks. I think I was just lucky to get an instructor who is not obsessed with political correctness.

This idea sounds promising. Thank you.

I need to write a short paper on an aspect (any and of my own choosing) of South American "popular culture." The topic is so uninteresting to me that I am at a loss as to what to write about. Since this forum is full of so many very bright people I thought I would see if anyone had any ideas. What aspect of South American "popular culture," if any, would be interesting to an Objectivist?

To be an Objectivist philosopher is my chosen goal. I still have a long way to go, however.

Burgess, what martial arts school did you go to?

One can't defend a system of ethics without knowledge of metaphysics and epistemology because knowledge is organized in a hierarchy. How can you prescribe what is the good (ethics) if you do not first know what is the nature of man? How can you know the nature of man if you do not first know the nature of knowledge (epistemology)? How can you know the nature of knowledge if you do not first know the nature of reality (metaphysics?)

Sorry, don't really have time to debate the issue at much length – finals week. I think that all of one's actions ought to be integrated to one's central purpose in life, which may differ from person to person. However, making sure your choices all further your central purpose rather than hinder it is a matter of ethics. So I still think ethics applies to all choices, not just some.

Ambrose of Milan, Just because something is finite does not make it worthless. I am enjoying my life. I will continue to enjoy my life as much as possible until I die. And while I am here, my life is quite the opposite of meaningless- it is the most deeply important thing in the world to me. I love many things in my life, and have many values. Even after I die it will still be a fact - forever - that while I lived I loved and valued the things that I did. It is a non-sequitur to say that just because something comes to an end, that it has no meaning or worth.

How do you know they are copies?

This is how I gave up smoking four years ago. Just decide to stop, and then do it.

All ethical questions are philosophical questions All questions of how to conduct oneself are ethical questions All questions of how to conduct oneself are philosophical questions

You can't. Metaphysics & epistemology provide the base on which all of philosophy rests, including ethics. I must reinforce what others have said and recommend Philosophy: Who Needs it? It’s the perfect answer to your question.

What guides you in the daily conduct of your life?

What, specifically, do you regard as imperfect?