Teaching Objectivism On The Courtroom - 1509 Words

Teaching Objectivism to the courtroom, Rearden is attacking the Collectivist philosophy by accepting reality; that one must produce for their own self-interest in order to pursue their own happiness. This moral code he is condemning breaks the law of existence: â€Å"A is A (1038)†. If A is not A, a person’s sole motive to live is not for himself, rather, to live for others. This premise of self-sacrifice denies reality, reason, and logic in place of faith, charity, and force. When Rearden declares â€Å"The public good be damned, I will have no part of it!† he condemns this irrational value system that promotes using oneself as a sacrificial animal and its methods of gaining control: by debilitating the producers and general public. The producers, through their guilt and force; the public at large by draining their capacity to think. Even though he is preaching Objectivism, Rearden lives according to this philosophy only partially. An Objectivist believes a person’s highest moral purpose is to pursue happiness through their values. He obtains the virtues, but feels guilt and shame for them. As Francisco D’Anconia tries to make Hank realize this fault, he asks â€Å"Why don’t you hold to the purpose of your life as clearly and rigidly as you hold to the purpose of your mills? (451)†. Hank runs his vastly successful Steel company objectively, mastering the reality of matter, which makes him â€Å"one of the last moral men in the world (451)†, but the distinction between him and D’Anconia,