One withstands or resists the invasion of armies; one does not withstand or resist the invasion of ideas. — Victor Hugo
This may have been inspired, perhaps, by the earlier written:
There is something more powerful that the brute force of bayonets: it is the idea whose time has come and hour struck. — Gustave Aimard
Ayn Rand is the first to have given a rational, objectively demonstrable, scientific answer to the question of why man needs a code of values.
At the same time she shines reason’s light into and thus dispersing altruism’s shadow revealing the vampire haunting Western culture. She describes altruism not as a morality—even though she refers to it as the morality of altruism—rather a negation of morality.
Even though she wields reason as a weapon, and calls upon reality as an invincible ally, ideas do not invade; rather they are passed around. One can see and rather easily grasp the invasion of armies and even readily resist. Without first having learned to distinguish the nature of ideas, it is much more difficult to recognize, much less resist the brightly colored fruit coming from the deadly yew tree.
It is the idea whose time has come and hour struck that determines whether the brute force of bayonets is resorted to, and whether it is utilized in the more efficacious deployment of self-defense or the less efficacious employment of the initiation of physical force.
A question that often arises within those familiarizing themselves with the various writings of Ayn Rand is: Is Ayn Rand right?
In “The Objectivist Ethics” in “The Virtue of Selfishness”, Ayn Rand writes the following:
If you wonder why the world is now collapsing to a lower and ever lower rung of hell, this [altruism] is the reason.
If you want to save civilization, it is this [the altruistic] premise of modern ethics — and of all ethical history — that you must challenge.
Quibbling over whether this borderline case or that borderline case falls inside or outside the Objectivist guidelines may be a good intellectual exercise for developing clarity for some.
Squabbling over whether Johnny’s interpretation or Jimmy’s interpretation or Joey’s interpretation of Ayn Rand’s wording is ludicrous at best.
Being objective is not about hermeneutics or interpretations. The question remains: Is she right?
Leonard Peikoff, in Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand isolates this crucial tidbit:
To understand man, or any other human concern, one must understand concepts. One must discover what they are, how they are formed, and how they are used, and often misused, in the quest for knowledge.
Harry Binswanger, in one of his lectures points out:
If you want to understand reason, understand concepts. If you want to study reason, study concepts. Concepts are where we store reason.
If civilization is at stake, it is an altruistic notion of concepts that must be swept aside. In her article: “Global Balkanization” in her book “The Voice of Reason”:
[T]o the tribalists, language is not a tool of thought and communication. Language to them is a symbol of tribal status and power—the power to force their dialect on all outsiders. This appeals not even to the tribal leaders, but to the sick, touchy vanity of the tribal rank and file.
To wrap this up on another note that Miss Rand saw fit to comment on: the whole of Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology applies, while in particular this isolates an essential ingredient:
It is worth noting, at this point, that what the enemies of reason seem to know, but its alleged defenders have not discovered, is the fact that _axiomatic concepts are the guardians of man’s mind and the foundation of reason—_the keystone, touchstone and hallmark of reason—and if reason is to be destroyed, it is axiomatic concepts that have to be destroyed.
If your axiomatic concepts, like existence, are indestructible, then you have nothing to worry about. Ayn Rand put it succinctly. As Leonard Peikoff put it in Fact and Value, as paraphrased:
The “official authorized doctrine” of Objectivism was stated and validated objectively by its discoverer and author, Ayn Rand.