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Patrick N.

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Posts posted by Patrick N.

  1. I must say that I found Peron's arguments to be more convincing than those of Joseph R. Stromberg. Who is Stromberg trying to kid? His piece sounds more like the polemnic against Objectivism. Not only did he make ridiculous comments but baseless ones also. For instance he says:

    It amuses me that many critics of Objectivism always have to render trumped-up charges to make their case. How silly! The above was not and is not a position that is held by Objectivists. The fact that "A is A" is one of the most frequently uttered by Objectivists but we all know who was the first (recorded) to describe this fact of reality, Aristotle. Whether or not Rand said it-it remains true. I give Rand credit, however, for being a consistent philosopher who affirmed that reality if knowable (i.e., that A is A) in these times when men are thought that "nothing" can known (with certitude).

    I'd like to point out that Aristotle never said "A is A." To the best of my (limited) knowledge, Aristotle thought the Law of Non-Contradiction was the most basic metaphysical principle. The Law of Identity wasn't made explicit until many, many centuries later.

    Those who have an interest in the subject may find this thread at THE FORUM for Ayn Rand fans interesting:

    http://forums.4aynrandfans.com/index.php?showtopic=881

  2. I really don't have any experience with that round. Larger caliber rounds, in general, are going to tend to have more stopping power, and depending on the type of round, do more damage. However, ANY round well placed can be very effective, even a .32 cal. Most people, even criminals, don't want to be shot be ANY kind of gun either. <_<

    :)

    Another question, if you don't mind:

    Do you think silvertips or full metal jacket would be a better self-defense choice for a smaller caliber pistol?

    I have heard that for smaller caliber rounds hollow-points are a bad idea because they don't penetrate far enough to substatially damage the attacker.

    I've never talked to a Cop about these things before, let alone a *Rational* Cop! So I value your opinion!

  3. Here are some rare Asian jewels that you guys need to discover or need to include in your list:

    From Korea: Sung Hi Lee

    From Japan: Yuko Ogura, Kyoko Fukada, Yukie Nakama and Erika Sawajiri

    From China: Ziyi Zhang

    Of the girls linked here, Yuko Ogura is my favorite:

    http://yuikabe.cool.ne.jp/idol-a-ogura_yuko.htm

    She's just so cute! :lol:

    My husband prefers Asian women, particularly Japanese women. He said that Asian women are extremely feminine because of their well emphasized petite features. I agree to that. That is why he is married to one. :P

    And don't forget the fact that you're an Objectivist! Talk about a dream come true for me! :lol:

  4. Your assesment of New Orleans, and La. in general is correct. Except for maybe New Jersey, it's government officials are some of the most corrupt in the nation.

    New Jersey is actually on my list of potential places to live (because of its proximity to New York City). Would you mind telling me more about the corruption there?

  5. Where do people draw the connection between Aristotle's writings and The Law of Identity? From what I've heard it was written in a 13th century textbook, attributed to Aristotle, and has grown into a great myth. How did that person way back when, extrapolate the Law of Identity from Aristotle's works? What did Aristotle say that would lead you to it?

    -Regis

    Maybe this will help you:

    http://forums.4aynrandfans.com/index.php?showtopic=881

  6. Mr. Laughlin wanted me to give you this message:

    "The Firefox connection worked for about a week. Now, even through Mozilla Firefox I can not get access to OO.net. This problem first appeared this morning, Thursday. When I click on the button near the top, the button Patrick help me set up for OO.net, I get this message, as an alert:

    'The connection was refused when attempting to contact forum.objectivismonline.net'

    When I try to go through Google search, on Firefox, I get the same message.

    As before, this problem appears only in trying to connect to OO.net -- not in connecting with any other site on my favorites list.

    Burgess Laughlin"

  7. I expected there to be a few responses like that.  No, I'm not asking for a sacrifice.  I don't expect people who haven't already read my posts to go out of their way to do so.  But, if you have read enough of my posts, I'd just like to know what you think my faults are.  Of course I'm more concerned with what I think of myself, but so is my Marxist criminology professor.  I respect most of the people on this message board, and I don't think it's unreasonable to ask the opinions of people that you respect.

    I honestly have not read enough of your posts to answer your question.

    But I do like your avatar and screen name. :thumbsup:

  8. Burgess Laughlin is unable to post.

    When he signs in, his name appears in the Board Statistics

    at the bottom of the page, but at the top of the page it still says:

    "Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )"

    Each time he tries to log in, the same thing happens.

    When he attempts to post, he gets this Board Message:

    "Sorry, an error occurred. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information."

    The error returned was:

    "Your posting permissions have been removed."

    It then says:

    "You are not logged in, you may log in below."

    If he tries to log in again the whole frustrating process happens anew. :lol:

    I have tried to sign in with my own user name from his computer and mine does not work either.

    It appears that the problem is restricted to the relationship between OO.net and his computer only. I don't know on which end the problem is occurring.

    We deleted all cookies on his computer as well as all offline content and the problem still persists.

    I contacted GreedyCapitalist about this to ask him if perhaps Burgess had been accidentally banned, or if someone with a similar IP had been banned. GreedyCapitalist told me that Burgess's IP address doesn't match anything in the ban list, so that can't be the problem.

    We still have no idea what is causing this problem.

    Can anyone help?

  9. Does Objectivism make you happy? Does converting to the philosophy of Objectivism make a person happier, either immediately or down the road?  :lol:

    And if not, why not? So what's the point of converting? What good is Objectivism? Abstract knowledge without use or practical value seems absurd to me.

    I'll take a chance and let everyone in on a little secret: As far as I can tell, and maybe I'm wrong, Objectivism hasn't raised my level of happiness. It hasn't knocked it down any, as far as I can tell, but it hasn't raised it. This seems to be the experience of others too.

    A few years ago I asked Nathaniel Branden if he thought people were happier after conversion. I asked after establishing a decent rapport with him and very casually. Then I watched very closely when he replied. He seemed astonished at the question, hesitated a small moment, but then answered right away in an evidently candid and forthright manner: NO. (We talked a bit more, but that was the gist.)

    I have known about the philosophy of Objectivism since I was 16 years old, but I never actually practiced it until I was 23 (I’m 27 now).

    On some implicit level I must have accepted the theory/practice dichotomy. For most of my youth I lived without principles or direction. I thought I was an Objectivist, but in practice I was a just a hedonistic pragmatist. I was unhappy, my life was going nowhere, and I didn’t have a clue.

    Then I "woke up." I realized that this is it—this is the only life I’m going to get and I had better make the most of it. It realized the virtues of Objectivism are not an intellectual game, but practical principles meant to be used. I started taking a long-term, principled approach to my life. I began practicing Objectivism—not just thinking about it—but acting on it.

    The results have been incredible and I am very, very happy now.

    The moral of the (true) story is that theory minus practice equals zero.

  10. Hello all,

    After a long absence, I'm finally back.  I still won't be as active as I once was, just because I'm very busy, but I'll try to check in at least once every week or two.

    Finishing up last semester consumed a lot of my time, as has a new job at a bookstore (I started on as part-time seasonal help in November, but have since gotten a promotion to a full-time position).  Also, it turns out that the classes I finished last fall fulfilled all of my major requirements by my advisor's reckoning (much to my surprise), so he signed off on my graduation application and I'll be receiving my B.A. in philosophy when the next batch of diplomas rolls off the press, come May.  So school isn't so time-consuming anymore, but my job more than makes up for that, along with some other personal issues in my life right now.  On top of that, I no longer have regular internet access at home, so I can only do this stuff when I'm on campus (which is over an hour commute for me) and have a few extra hours to spend on it.

    But it's good to be back, hope I will be able to be a bit more active now and avoid anymore four-month absences.

    Congratulations on receiving your degree! Are you planning to go to grad school?

  11. I am having problems with a math assignment. The class is 100 level.

    When f(x) = -6x+5 and g(x) = (3x^2)-10 I am supposed to find (fg)(x), (g+f)(x), and 3*g(x-4)

    I am then supposed to simplify the results.

    For (fg)(x) I came up with (-6x+5)((3x^2)-10)

    For (g+f)(x) I came up with (-6x+5)+((3x^2)-10)

    For 3*g(x-4) I came up with 3((3(x-4)^2)-10)

    So far so good (I think), but I can't remember how to simplify any of the results. Math is not my interest and sometimes it frustrates me.

    Can anyone help?

  12. Because it's the part that's relevant.  [...]

    I do not agree. All the parts are relevant. You cannot separate philosophy from politics, or any other part of human life. Philosophy is always relevant, it underlies everything. To look at a political philosophy while ignoring the rest of philosophy is to drop the context that makes politics possible.

  13. What most of you (Mr. Williamson is a notable exception) seem to be overlooking is that libertarianism is strictly a political philosophy.  It doesn't pretend to be a fully integrated philosophical system like Objectivism is.  Quite a few libertarians derive their political beliefs from Objectivist ethics; many others arrive at them some other way.

    IF you look strictly at political positions on political issues, without regard to how either camp justifies its opinions, there isn't a dime's worth of difference between libertarians and Objectivists.

    Why would you look at only part of the picture?

  14. tab.gifI know most of that is wrong, but I haven’t read anything by Kant, and I’m not sure how to properly explain how Kant caused Nazism and Communism. How would you answer such questions?

    I was going to let the others in this forum answer your question, but now I've changed my mind.

    If you want my advice, go to the library, get everything you can on Kant, and read it. Just to warn you, I tried to read Critique of Pure Reason years ago and was shocked by Kant’s awful writing style. Even so, you ought to know where Kant was coming from in his own words. After you have read most of his major works, post specific questions here about them. Perhaps the more knowledgeable people can help you then.

    Once you have gotten a taste of Kant’s work, I would then read The Ominous Parallels.

    Also, to further your study of Objectivism, you should sign up for the Objectivist Academic Center this spring. If you really want to be an Objectivist philosopher, the OAC is a must. I have heard nothing but good things about it, and am planning on signing up myself.

    -Patrick

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