6 Nathaniel Branden Quotes on Philosophy

Nathaniel Branden quotes on philosophy

1. 'Most of the failings of Objectivism all pertain directly or indirectly to issues of psychology.'[1]

4. '[F]or somebody who presents herself as a champion of the joy of living, [Rand] has very rigid rules about the path you must walk on in your pursuit of enjoyment. Of all the objections to Objectivism, none is stupider than the claim that we are a hedonistic philosophy. Man, we are as rigid as the Catholic Church in the 13 th century, you know?'[4]

5. 'I'm very aware of that over-application of the trader principle, as if that's all you need to know to understand human relationships. Good God... [W]ho among you, tell the truth, last time you played with a little kid-or a dog, did you think you're going to have a trade relationship with the dog later in life, for crying out loud? Because there's a good analogy there... As a dog-lover, when I'm looking at a dog nose to nose, the trade is happening right now. The interaction is the reward... Anybody who doesn't understand that, I don't wish to speak to. My official response to such people: they can go fuck themselves.'[5]

6. 'Objectivism comes on, sometimes, as if the most important issue you have to understand is the issue of egoism versus altruism. But that's nowhere near the beginning of the process.'[6]

7. 'Ernest Van Den Haag, a sociologist, wrote a fascinating book called The Jewish Mystique. I read that book, got a lot out of it, and went over to Ayn and said, 'I've got to tell you something shocking.' Because we never thought of ourselves as Jewish in any important way, I announced, laughing, 'We are both exponents of the Jewish messianic tradition. We believe we are here on earth to be signposts pointing to the good life.' What I got out of that book was how Jewish that was. The whole idea of these prophets coming along, or however he was describing it-it fit Ayn and me to a tee. I thought that was very funny.'[7]

8. 'In order to have any sense of control over our own life, we need to know that we're able to make sense out of our experience, in all of its many aspects. It's the need that religion addresses, that philosophy addresses... if you have a moral code that you do your best to live up to, other things being equal, it's very positive in its consequences for your self esteem, even if the moral code is in some ways mistaken. If you conscientiously try to live it to the best of your ability, that would have a salutary effect on your self-esteem. If you violate it, it would have a negative effect on your self-esteem. But suppose you have nothing to violate, no worldview-that absence will limit your self-esteem, because you need to feel aligned with reality. You need feel that you are in appropriate contact with the real world. Now your theory of what the real world is might be right or wrong. But so long as you are able to believe that you are in contact with the real world and are acting on that knowledge, your self-esteem benefits... Regardless, upsetting as it may be to orthodox Objectivists, I think you can show that in the short run and in [a coerced] environment, a person who has some overarching faith has a better chance of surviving. But I wouldn't explain that all away by saying ignorance is bliss. The point is to understand what function a belief system provides. Then you can understand why an imperfect one is sometimes beneficial'[8]