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Sunday
August 8, 2004

Ayn Rand's Value Theory by Edward W. Younkins

To be a value means to be good for someone and for something. Life is one’s fundamental value because life is conditional and requires a particular course of action to maintain it. Something can be good or bad only to a living organism, such as a human being, acting to survive. Man’s life is the ultimate value and the standard of value for a human being. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (6 messages)

Post 0

Monday, August 9, 2004 - 2:41pm

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This fine discussion of Rand's theory of value would have been even more valuable with some direct quotations from Rand so the points could be checked against these.

Post 1

Monday, August 9, 2004 - 5:34pm

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Perhaps I can use this article as a jumping-off point for a question that's been simmering in my head for quite a while now. I'm going to refer directly to this section:

"Each person must form values, hierarchize them, and pursue them. A man must expose himself to many aspects of reality in order to discover the things that he loves (i.e., his values). After a man immerses himself in observational reality he must then choose to delimit them to those that most excite and interest him and ignite his soul. He needs to identify the crucial indispensable values to his life and distinguish them from lesser values and non-values. He requires an explicit value hierarchy and should organize his time, effort, and lifestyle around that hierarchy."

What is the moral status of someone who has difficulty doing this? I'm speaking from experience here... I have many passionate interests, and I've found it excrutiatingly difficult to settle on any one plan for a career.

It seems to me that there is an epidemic of college students (like me) who are "undecided" about their majors. I read recently in _Newsweek_ that there has been a significant increase in the number of students who take more than four years to complete a bachelor's degree because they wait too long to choose a major or change majors after a couple of years. I think it's possible to interpret this as a classic example of evading reality--either putting off the decision or denying that a decision must be made.

What do you all think? Is "undecided" a moral black mark?

Jana Beck

Post 2

Monday, August 9, 2004 - 5:35pm

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Thank you Tibor!

I am happy you liked it.

Yes, I certainly agree that direct quotes from Ayn Rand would have helped. Thanks for the suggestion!

Cheers!

Ed

Post 3

Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 5:13am

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Focusing on prioritizing values early in life can be rather frustrating because (a) one hasn't really become the person who one will be, eventually, so one hasn't got one's individual self sufficiently intact to know what will be best for oneself, and (b) the world now makes so many options available to most people, especially in a place like North America, that the search for what will suit one best will take longer than before (when options were limited). Moreover, some of us are born generalists, good for a life of multi-tasking instead of specialization (the Da Vince syndrome)

Post 4

Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 5:41pm

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Jana, as Tibor comments, you are still young and have more paths to follow before you have to make definite decisions. I think this is the time to explore some of those paths to find out what you value the most. My mistake as a young Objectivist was to withdraw from the world instead of expand into it. Later on, I saw this was a mistake. The world is an open book and the time to discover it, is when you have the opportunity.

For example, your values in relationship to people will only become clear to you by a process of trial and error. You may have an intellectual idea of the importance of honesty but only by living will you see the merit of honesty, and how important it is to any healthy relationship.

Post 5

Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 6:00am

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Jana:

I also agree that Professor Machan has given you excellent advice.

Focus involves a person's decision to activate his mind. Each of us can choose to make a self-starting decision to stay open to the positive aspects of reality that enable us to gain and keep life-promoting values. It certainly takes effort to stay in focus by using your free will to mobilize your consciousness and mental resources. Focus, a quality of alertness, is a precondition of awareness of reality and of cognition. It is a person's readiness to direct his attention. When a person is in focus he will discover many reasons to use his cognitive and other abilities. The choice to focus enters both in the formation, of one's ideas, values, and principles and in keeping his values and knowledge active so that they can frame his choice of pursuits and actions.

Focus, experience many aspects of life, and discern what is right for the individual human being that you are. Values, careers, and pursuits are a function of your distinctive resources and potential. They are unique to the individual, require the talent to perform the job or other activity, and are accompanied by the enjoyment and sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, and renewed energies that their performance gives to the person.

Such discernment may be difficult but it is not impossible!!!!!

Cheers!!!!

Ed