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Posted by Carlos on September 29, 1998 at 12:44:19:
In Reply to: Ayn Rand debunked by M.Scott Peck, M.D. posted by Joe Tormos on September 29, 1998 at 12:06:44:
Joe Tormos said:
I was a huge, huge Any Rand fan for many years.
But ... as Dr. Peck notes in his third book (the first being "The Road Less Traveled: a New Psychology of Love, Spiritual Growth and Traditional Values," [1978] now the #1 non-fiction best-seller in history; and the second, "People of the Lie: the Hope for Healing Human Evil" [1983] -- easily two of the greatest books ever written, if not the "top 2" -- touching upon many of the core concepts that concern this site: THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, RELIGION, THINKING, "THE BIG PICTURE," ETC.), "The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace," [1985] ... something about Ayn Rand's philosophy of "rugged individualism" bothered me ....
It seems you have transferred your admiration of Rand to Peck. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm fairly well read and I have a hard time believing that a book I've never heard of is the "#1 non-fiction best-seller in history". Source?
After having read "Atlas Shrugged," [1957] Peck noted that in this sweeping panorama of the full lives of many people -- THERE WERE ESSENTIALLY NO CHILDREN IN THE WORLD. (Rand's readers will remember Dagny's persistent assertion as a child: "CHILDHOOD IS NOTHING BUT A COMPLETE AND TOTALLY STUPID WASTE OF MY TIME, AND NOTHING IN MY LIFE WILL MATTER IN THE SLIGHTEST UNTIL I GET TO THE ADULT WORLD." (My paraphrase.)
Peck notes that children, and "others LIKE children" -- the infirmed, the handicapped, the illiterate, the deaf, the mute, etc. -- CANNOT "SUBSCRIBE" TO THE "FALLACY OF RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM" -- THEY MUST DEPEND ON THE GOOD GRACES OF OTHERS.
So, based on this one assertion you dismiss the entire philosophy that Rand espoused? You are quite simply wrong to imply that Rand's brand of libertarianism obviates compassion. Institutionalized compassion, yes. Also, the Dagny character in the book is not Rand's vehicle for expounding her philosophy - that role clearly belongs to John Galt.
Rand had her flaws, and the cult that grew up around her has even more, but to claim that her ideas have been "debunked" by one Dr. Peck is just plain silly.
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