| | Contrary to the introduction for this thread, Sunwall explicitly states that Rand was Thomist rather than Averroist to the extent that she could be described as either. Here is the conclusion to Sunwall's article (with my emphasis):
The above "family resemblances" between Randianism and Averroism, like the bold brush strokes on a Cezanne canvas, are doomed to break down when transferred to the Pointillist medium of exact comparison. The thought of Ayn Rand and the philosophical movement intitiated by the commentaries of Ibn Rushd do exhibit some similarities as radical, immanent, and integral Aristotelianism. However, it should be clear that the second A of Rand's self-classification must remain Aquinas rather than Averroës as I have rather fancifully hypothesized. This exercise in trying to get a more exact classification of Rand's philosophy should none the less alert us to the dangers of conflating libertarian ideology with Aristotelian philosophy. There are as many kinds of Aristotelianism as there are libertarianism. The convergences and divergences among these must be worked out on a case by case basis.
In the end I have to wonder what the point of the article was. Just more proof I suppose that academic credentials are not the end-all and be-all of philosophical genius.
Andy
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