tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360316141951760499.post5704175320202414429..comments2023-05-08T01:41:37.294-07:00Comments on Inductive Quest: The Vampires of ObjectivismRod.Inductionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343170953954558275noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360316141951760499.post-67269669190521219142010-06-12T10:36:05.401-07:002010-06-12T10:36:05.401-07:00Hello Neil Parille.
I've already read bits an...Hello Neil Parille.<br /><br />I've already read bits and pieces of your criticisms on SOLO and elsewhere, but when I have the time, I'll read the whole essay (I'm already 20 pages into it).<br /><br />If PARC's scholarship is "very poor," then PAR's is laughably bad, this despite the many dozens of tapes of research interviews Barbara Branden had conducted. Even Brant Gaede admitted the difference in scholarship between the two once, at a time when he had repudiated Barbara.<br /><br />More than the research involved, there are claims that Branden makes in PAR that are demonstrably false, thanks in large part to the material in PARC. For instance, she claims in the "Introduction," page xi, that Rand's eyes never had an inward look, a look of learning about oneself, of "one's own spirit and consciousness." Rand's journal entries on Nathaniel Branden are filled with insights into her own psychology, her own view of herself, the physical product of her introspections about herself, precisely what Barbara claims "never" happened. See pages like 244, 245, and especially page 290 where she talks about her own "self-protective withdrawal." The true point is that no one knew as much about Rand as she herself did.<br /><br />On page 173, she claims that Rand's tastes in humor "ran rather to the broad and obvious" [as opposed to the subtle and sophisticated], but that doesn't stop Rand from noting the humorous incongruity between Lenin's "New Economic Policy" which let up some of the government's interference in the Russian economy, and Nixon's "New Economic Policy" which led to government interference in the *American* economy in her speech, "The Moratorium on Brains," in 1971. (It's available for listening on the ARI site, and has at least 5 more instances of humor just in that speech. I was surprised, myself.)<br /><br />I just picked a lecture at random to listen to, and in "The Age of Mediocrity," (1981) she states:<br /><br />"[Talking about her disgust with Reagan's non-philosophical approach] Speaking of fuel shortages, no one has pointed out to him that this country is perishing from a shortage of an *intellectual* energy, and that there are no Arabs to help us out in this crisis." [4:12-4:30]<br />Such a statement elicited quite the laughter and applause from the audience, I'll add.<br /><br />That's what I'm focused on: the truth. I think there's more than enough evidence to refute many of things Barbara claims, which reflects *very* negatively on her level of scholarship, in my view.Rod.Inductionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16343170953954558275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360316141951760499.post-83149372492857698452010-06-07T03:08:16.143-07:002010-06-07T03:08:16.143-07:00Mr. Fitts,
I have said an occasional good thing ...Mr. Fitts, <br /><br />I have said an occasional good thing about PARC. For example, I think it is a valuable reminder that the Branden books should not be taken as the last word on Rand and that the journals printed in PARC are of great value.<br /><br />I think PARC's scholarship is very poor. I wrote a detailed critique here --<br /><br />http://www.scribd.com/doc/9421651/The-Passion-of-James-Valliants-Criticism<br /><br />-Neil ParilleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360316141951760499.post-9443689719751832342010-05-29T05:30:25.611-07:002010-05-29T05:30:25.611-07:00Thanks for the correction, Richard. And thank you...Thanks for the correction, Richard. And thank you both for the comments.<br /><br />PC: do you have anything to add, since you know a lot more about these issues than I do?Rod.Inductionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16343170953954558275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360316141951760499.post-90110163277802810752010-05-28T17:22:25.424-07:002010-05-28T17:22:25.424-07:00Just a slight typo in the last paragraph. "a...Just a slight typo in the last paragraph. "argue with every once" should read "ounce" it seems.<br /><br />Good post :)Richardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360316141951760499.post-14173871295953976672010-05-24T18:51:20.478-07:002010-05-24T18:51:20.478-07:00"There's more where that came from. "..."There's more where that came from. "<br /><br />I look forward to it. :-)Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com