COLLOQUY

THE QUESTION

RESPONSES

BACKGROUND

First, I do not believe that dialectics is a synthesis of opposites. That is a view of dialectic that was put forth by Fichte, and is sometimes attributed (with some distortion) to Hegel. The dialectic is not a triad of thesis-antithesis-synthesis. It is a method that goes back to Aristotle and that is an orientation toward contextual analysis of dynamic, structured totalities. Because we are incapable of understanding an object from a god-like perspective, we are required to engage in an abstraction of vantage point. And by shifting our vantage point, over time, we may become aware of the fact that things which appear to be in opposition, are actually quite complementary. Dialectics, however, is not anti-dualism any more than it is anti-monism. It is pro-context. And because it cautions against context-dropping, it is in keeping with Rand's own contextual epistemology.

Now, with regard to Rand's rejection of the mind-body dichotomy, Ms. Cohen is correct. Rand saw these as a unity of complementary aspects, an "organic" unity. For the same reason, she pointed to the integration of reason and emotion, theory and practice, fact and value, and so forth. But she also rejected "false alternatives" -- such as rationalism versus empiricism, materialism versus idealism, intrinsicism versus subjectivism, and so forth.

On the subject of good and evil, Rand rejected the conventional oppositions: that is, she rejected the notion that the only alternative to the sacrifice of the self for others (the conventional morality of "altruism") is the sacrifice of others to oneself (the conventional notion of "egoism"). Moreover, Rand never saw good and evil as a dualism. Dualism posits two principles as co-equal. For Rand, evil is a parasite on the good. It can have no status equal to good because it requires the sanction of the good in order to survive and flourish.

As for oppositions between capitalism and communism or egoism and altruism, Rand engaged in a vast "deconstruction" of the meaning of these terms. She speaks of capitalism "the unknown ideal" in a way that is similar to her own notion of selfishness, which might be described as "selfishness: the unknown ideal." While capitalism and communism are surely opposed in principle, the more important contribution of Rand is this: that capitalism is not communism, or fascism, or collectivism, or statism of ANY type. It is different, not merely by degree, but in kind, from all other social systems, because it is based on the principle of individual rights.

-- Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Visiting Scholar, NYU Department of Politics (posted 4/19, 1:12 p.m., E.D.T.)

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