Smith-Hughes Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Off the top of my, I would recommend picking up a copy of Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. There are three essays in there that I think could provide you with a little guidance, "What is Capitalism", "Man's Rights", and "The Nature of Government". The last two are also in The Virtue of Selfishness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AisA Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 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 would say that the great aim of the struggle for liberty -- as manifested in the American revolution -- is the recognition and protection of individual rights. Equality before the law is only one aspect of achieving that recognition and protection, but it is not an end in itself. If the law holds everyone to be equally rightless creatures, then that equality is the enemy of liberty, not its guarantor. The law in a dictatorship like the Soviet Union becomes an instrument of terror, even if it is applied equally. Equality before the law is of value if and only if the laws are just, i.e. based on the protection of individual rights. I agree with Bryan's reading recommendations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaloNoble6 Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Smith-Hughes: First, welcome to the forum; I hope you find a home here. Second, please read the forum rules prior to posting. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Roark Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 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 can't help but think that this statement has a hidden agenda to it. The great aim of the struggle for liberty has been equality? Equality for whom? The correct answer to this topic is of course the individual. Unfortunately I do not think that this is what is being implied by the statement above. Also, it is lacking in proper context, so, be happy that it is open ended in this regards. The only way to "equality" is through the law by protecting individual rights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smith-Hughes Posted March 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 (edited) 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! Edited March 19, 2005 by Smith-Hughes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iakeo Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 "The great aim of the struggle for liberty has been equality before the law." I really would appreciate any help on the objectivist thought to this subject !! What are YOUR thoughts on the subject? Assuming you see it as a subject at all. Every noun-phrase of that statement could easily be expounded on into whole books of words. The prepositions could be especially interesting. So, what are your thoughts? -Iakeo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidOdden Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 "The great aim of the struggle for liberty has been equality before the law"Here are some problems with that. First, being treated the same as everybody else under the law does not entail liberty -- a nation of slaves does not have liberty. Second, it presumes that liberty is only a problem with law, ignoring the fact that a person can be oppressed outside the bounds of law. Third, so what? Liberty is not man's central goal. It is certainly necessary, but liberty emerges from a recognition of man's rational goal and man's nature. Living according to reason (in accordance with man's nature) has a number of consequences -- rights, liberty, life, happiness. Bryan's reading suggestions will push you in the right direction: my suggestion is that you don't bite down too hard on the fishhook, and instead write about what is obviously true and relevant, and in particular does not carry with it a lot of undefended baggage (e.g. that there is such a thing as "the struggle for liberty" or that it has an aim). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaloNoble6 Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Smith-Hughes: I wasn't offended, mate, I was just making the forum policy clear. I'm in the process of trying to raise the quality of posts around here, nothing more. With that in mind, I think it would've been more appropriate if you presented your own thoughts alongside the question. Considering it's your first post, I had nothing else to guide my judgment, and so that is all I based my post on. Second reminder: please read the forum rules, particularly the section on punctuation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cole Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 (edited) You can contrast equality before the law with the theory of metaphysical egalitarianism. While you may make conclusions in the paper that are consistent with Objectivism, I doubt you'd be able to start with that topic and "interject Objectivism" within the span of 3000 words. Objectivism is an entire, integrated philosophy. Principles consistent or derived from Objectivism are not Objectivism. Edit: Corrected typo. Edited March 19, 2005 by Cole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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