What: Discussion of two fairly short essays by Ayn Rand on the issue of compromise and principle:
(1)“The Anatomy of Compromise” (in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal...http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Ideal-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451147952/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-9950892-6061602?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185200827&sr=8-1)
and
(2) “Doesn’t Life Require Compromise?” (in The Virtue of Selfishness- http://www.amazon.com/Virtue-Selfishness-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451163931/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-9950892-6061602?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185200932&sr=8-1)
When: Sunday, July 29, 2007
Where: Sign up here for time and location details: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/opar-announce/
Proposed Questions:
1) What is Ayn Rand’s definition of a “principle”? Give an example of a “principle”. Ayn Rand said that a “…concept is a mental integration of two or more units which are isolated by a process of abstraction and united by a specific definition…” (The Ayn Rand Lexicon, Ed. By Harry Binswanger, “Concepts”), what, according to Ayn Rand’s philosophy, are the similarities and differences between a “principle” on the one hand and a “concept” on the other?
2) What is Ayn Rand’s definition of “compromise”?
3) Ayn Rand’s definition of (rational) compromise rests on the idea that two or more parties have “conflicting claims” that are then “adjusted by mutual concessions”. Give an example of what she means by “conflicting claims”, and then explain how there could be “mutual concessions” to “adjust” this conflict.
4) Reconcile Ayn Rand’s assertion that “there are no conflicts of interests among rational men” (see “The ‘Conflicts’ of Men’s Interests”, The Virtue of Selfishness, emphasis added), with her assertion that a legitimate compromise involves an adjustment of “conflicting claims” by mutual concessions. (See “Doesn’t Life Require Compromise?”, The Virtue of Selfishness)
5) Three common areas of life that are said to require compromise are at work, marriage, and politics. Give an example of the type of compromise Ayn Rand would say is proper in these three areas, and also give an example of what Ayn Rand would regard as a violation of principle, and therefore not a proper compromise, in these three areas.
6) In “The Anatomy of Compromise”, Ayn Rand describes three “...rules about the working of principles in practice and about the relationship of principles to goals…”. Give an example of these three rules in action from: history, contemporary affairs, your own personal experiences, or from a fictional novel or story (that was not written by Ayn Rand).
7) Describe the psychological and existential components causing the first principle described by Ayn Rand in “The Anatomy of Compromise”, to be true, (that “In any conflict between two men (or two groups) who hold the same basic principles, it is the more consistent one who wins.”)
8) In “The Anatomy of Compromise”, Ayn Rand says that in the conflict between the Republicans and the Democrats, that since the “Democrats are more consistently committed to the growth of government power, the Republicans are reduced to helpless ‘me-too’ing’, to inept plagiarism of any program initiated by the Democrats…” and that if neither party chooses to reject “altruism-collectivism-statism”, then “…the logic of the events created by their common basic principles will keep dragging them both further and further to the left.” She went on to say that in this conflict, if and when “…the ‘conservatives’ are kicked out of the game altogether, the same conflict will continue between the ‘liberals’ and the avowed socialists; when the socialists win, the conflict will continue between the socialists and the communists; when the communists win, the ultimate goal of altruism will be achieved: universal immolation.” How did she respond to the question that since the advocates of a mixed economy (such as the ‘conservatives’) are also advocating freedom, at least in part, why does the irrational part of their mixture have to win?
9) What does Ayn Rand mean by the term “collaboration” in her statement that “In any collaboration between two men (or two groups) who hold different basic principles, it is the more evil or irrational one who wins.” (The Anatomy of Compromise)? In other words, what is the definition of “collaboration”, as used here? Give an example of a “collaboration”.
10) Given the fact that neither major political party in the US (the Republicans and the Democrats) are consistent advocates of what Rand would regard as a free society, would Ayn Rand have viewed it as a violation of the three rules set forth in “The Anatomy of Compromise” if one were to vote for one or the other major party, simply because you viewed the other party as the bigger threat to freedom? (This question is inspired by Leonard Peikoff’s argument that an Objectivist that was true to his philosophy would have to vote Democrat in the last, 2006, mid-term elections.) Another way of seeing this question is: can Leonard Peikoff’s position regarding the need to vote Democrat in the 2006 mid-term elections be reconciled with Rand’s position that in “…any collaboration between two men (or two groups) who hold different basic principles, it is the more evil or irrational one who wins…” in “The Anatomy of Compromise”?
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Inspiration for Question Number 10:
(http://www.peikoff.com/
October 19, 2006 entry: "Peikoff on the coming election")
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Here were the answers that I came up with.
1) What is Ayn Rand’s definition of a “principle”? Give an example of a “principle”. Ayn Rand said that a “…concept is a mental integration of two or more units which are isolated by a process of abstraction and united by a specific definition…” (The Ayn Rand Lexicon, Ed. By Harry Binswanger, “Concepts”), what, according to Ayn Rand’s philosophy, are the similarities and differences between a “principle” on the one hand and a “concept” on the other?
a) “A principle is a fundamental, primary, or general truth, on which other truths depend. Thus, a principle is an abstraction which subsumes a great number of concretes. It is only by means of principles that one can set one’s long-range goals and evaluate the concrete alternatives of any given moment. It is only principles that enable a man to plan his future and to achieve it.” (“The Anatomy of Compromise”, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, pg 144, (TAOC))
2) What is Ayn Rand’s definition of “compromise”?
a) “A compromise is an adjustment of conflicting claims by mutual concessions. This means that both parties to a compromise have some valid claim and some value to offer each other. And this means that both parties agree upon some fundamental principle which serves as a base for their deal.” (pg. 68, “Doesn’t Life Require Compromise?”, The Virtue of Selfishness (DLRC?))
4) Reconcile Ayn Rand’s assertion that “there are no conflicts of interests among rational men” (see “The ‘Conflicts’ of Men’s Interests”, The Virtue of Selfishness, emphasis added), with her assertion that a legitimate compromise involves an adjustment of “conflicting claims” by mutual concessions. (See “Doesn’t Life Require Compromise?”, The Virtue of Selfishness)
I suspect that she would say most conflicting claims involved in a legitimate compromise rest on lack of information by the other party. So, for instance, in a business deal, the manufacturer wants $100 for an item he has produced, and the distributor only wants to pay $50 for it. The distributor explains why he can’t pay $100 due to his inability to resell the item purchased for more than $100, and the manufacturer explains what his costs in producing the product are, and that he can’t make any money if he sells it for $50. Then, both parties explain what their costs are, and also explain why the other partie’s costs aren’t as high as they think, and they eventually compromise at some price between $50 and $100.
5) Three common areas of life that are said to require compromise are at work, marriage, and politics. Give an example of the type of compromise Ayn Rand would say is proper in these three areas, and also give an example of what Ayn Rand would regard as a violation of principle, and therefore not a proper compromise, in these three areas.
a) Work – (good compromise) Architect hired to design a building, his client says that he cannot afford the design that the architect has come up with, so the architect redesigns the building in a way that will allow for the use of cheaper materials. (bad compromise) Architect asked to redesign a building because the client is afraid that the architect’s revolutionary design will offend his neighbors traditionalist sensibilities.
b) Marriage – (good compromise)A young couple both want to have children, but the wife wants to wait until after she finishes law school so that she can have a career once the children are of school age, while the husband is anxious to start experiencing the joy of parenthood (joy from his perspective). Husband agrees to wait the three years that it will take the wife to finish law school. (bad compromise) Wife, under pressure from her parents, wants to raise their children with Christian values, and insists that her atheist husband go along with it despite the fact that he thinks religious indoctrination of children is harmful.
c) Politics – (good compromise) The Senator from state A (which is landlocked) wants four new Army bases built because he thinks that four are necessary to properly protect his constituents from foreign aggressors. The Senator from state B thinks that less focus should be placed on Army bases and more on building up the Navy with two new aircraft carriers, since his state has a large coastline and a large shipping industry. Since the budget is limited, they can’t have both, so they agree to build two new Army bases and one new aircraft carrier. (bad compromise) Senator A is a staunch supporter of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. His colleagues want him to agree to a law that would prohibit pornography, and tell him that if he doesn’t agree to it, then he will loose all of his chairmanships in the Senate.
6) In “The Anatomy of Compromise”, Ayn Rand describes three “...rules about the working of principles in practice and about the relationship of principles to goals…”. Give an example of these three rules in action from: history, contemporary affairs, your own personal experiences, or from a fictional novel or story (that was not written by Ayn Rand).
a) “In any conflict between two men (or two groups) who hold the same basic principles, it is the more consistent one who wins.” In Russia, the more consistent “Bolshevik" communists beat out the less consistently communistic "Mensheviks".
b) “In any collaboration between two men (or two groups) who hold different basic principles, it is the more evil or irrational one who wins.”Apeasement of German Nazis by giving them part of Chekoslovakia only gave them more resources for future aggression.
c) “When opposite basic principles are clearly and openly defined, it works to the advantage of the rational side; when they are not clearly defined, but are hidden or evaded, it works to the advantage of the irrational side.”
7) Describe the psychological and existential components causing the first principle described by Ayn Rand in “The Anatomy of Compromise”, to be true, (that “In any conflict between two men (or two groups) who hold the same basic principles, it is the more consistent one who wins.”)
8) In “The Anatomy of Compromise”, Ayn Rand says that in the conflict between the Republicans and the Democrats, that since the “Democrats are more consistently committed to the growth of government power, the Republicans are reduced to helpless ‘me-too’ing’, to inept plagiarism of any program initiated by the Democrats…” and that if neither party chooses to reject “altruism-collectivism-statism”, then “…the logic of the events created by their common basic principles will keep dragging them both further and further to the left.” She went on to say that in this conflict, if and when “…the ‘conservatives’ are kicked out of the game altogether, the same conflict will continue between the ‘liberals’ and the avowed socialists; when the socialists win, the conflict will continue between the socialists and the communists; when the communists win, the ultimate goal of altruism will be achieved: universal immolation.” How did she respond to the question that since the advocates of a mixed economy (such as the ‘conservatives’) are also advocating freedom, at least in part, why does the irrational part of their mixture have to win?
a) Ayn Rand also believed that “In any collaboration between two men (or two groups) who hold different basic principles, it is the more evil or irrational one who wins.”
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