Febod Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 I'm reasonably versed in Objectivism, but I still don't think I fully grasp the meaning of the phrase "It's practical because it's moral." This is usually used referring to law i.e. "free trade is practical because it is moral." If someone could address this question, or redirect me to a thread that already has, I would appreciate it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concerto of Atlantis Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Well, from a very young age, we are taught that one basically faces two choices as far as life is concerned - You can either be a 'practical' person or a 'moral/idealistic' person. And then this idea of a dichotomy is stressed all throughout one's life. For example, people tend to say that they are 'down to earth' OR 'idealistic'. Sometimes they say that they are 'artistic/creative' OR 'practical'. If you say, for example that you are 'down to earth' AND 'idealistic', people tend to look at you strangely. Objectivism holds that such a dichotomy does not exist. For instance, let's look at Atlas Shrugged. Is Francisco idealistic and moral? Of course he is. Is he practical and down to earth (where down to earth means: in touch with reality)? The answer is again yes. According to Objectivism, morals are a guide to living life. Therefore morals lead to practicality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRoberts Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Expanding upon Concerto of Atlantis- Morality comes from this world. Thus something that is practical is something that will work-in this world. Because Objectivism has a natural view on morality, morality obviously is practical because it is in accordance with nature. This is why the Dichotomy that Concerto of Atlantis spoke of exists in many people's philosophy-because their morality comes from god, or a higher source. This means that it isn't worldly, and thus "not practical". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewSternberg Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 You might hear people claim that Communisim is good in theory but bad in practice. Objectivism would say that it is terrible in practice BECAUSE it is terrible in theory. The reason is that it founded on a heap of falsehoods. Acting on what is false leads to a heap of corpses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Febod Posted October 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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