Skip to main content

Ayn Rand - the romantic manifesto


There are two aspects of man’s existence which are the special province and expression of his sense of life: love and art.
I am referring here to romantic love, in the serious meaning of that term — as distinguished from the superficial infatuations of those whose sense of life is devoid of any consistent values, i.e., of any lasting emotions other than fear. Love is a response to values. It is with a person’s sense of life that one falls in love — with that essential sum, that fundamental stand or way of facing existence, which is the essence of a personality. One falls in love with the embodiment of the values that formed a person’s character, which are reflected in his widest goals or smallest gestures, which create the style of his soul — the individual style of a unique, unrepeatable, irreplaceable consciousness. It is one’s own sense of life that acts as the selector, and responds to what it recognizes as one’s own basic values in the person of another. It is not a matter of professed convictions (though these are not irrelevant); it is a matter of much more profound, conscious and subconscious harmony.
Many errors and tragic disillusionments are possible in this process of emotional recognition, since a sense of life, by itself, is not a reliable cognitive guide. And if there are degrees of evil, then one of the most evil consequences of mysticism — in terms of human suffering — is the belief that love is a matter of “the heart,” not the mind, that love is an emotion independent of reason, that love is blind and impervious to the power of philosophy. Love is the expression of philosophy — of a subconscious philosophical sum — and, perhaps, no other aspect of human existence needs the conscious power of philosophy quite so desperately. When that power is called upon to verify and support an emotional appraisal, when love is a conscious integration of reason and emotion, of mind and values, then — and only then — it is the greatest reward of man’s life.
“PHILOSOPHY AND SENSE OF LIFE”
The Romantic Manifesto, 32
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ph.D Research - Can you make yourself irreplaceable?

A while ago, I had dinner with this lovely young eastern European woman. It was our first encounter. She has been living in the UK for only two weeks. she had already a job and an accommodation. We started talking about our academic achievement. She mentioned that she had a master in digital literature. I suggested that she could possibly do her Ph.D at the University of Reading. She shrugged and said  'I have been working as a research administrator in a university for two years. I was the one who convinced students not to do their Ph.D.  Ph.D students slave themselves away for three years of their life. They carry out valuable research, write papers and go to conference, yet they are underpaid and they will probably not get a job at the end of it. Academia is an industry where Ph.D are a herd being truthfully exploited.' It was partially true. I started my Ph.D to escape the dogma of some other mainstream form of exploitation I wanted to be my own project. Academ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How can you get a Ph.D.Scholarship?

Every two weeks or so I am meeting up with my Ph.D supervisors to talk about my research topic. At out last meeting, we finalise my research question... --- 2 Years ago, 1 month after starting my new job, 3 month after finishing my studies, it was clear for me that I wanted to go back to academia. I set up myself to gain a bit of experience and look for a new job. 18 month ago, I had two interviews, one for a knowledge transfer partnership leading to Ph.D with Birmingham City University and one for a Ph.D with Cranfield University on Sustainability and Communications. Deep inside it was not really what I was looking for. 12 month ago, I almost gave up finding the Ph.D. Then, I changed my mind. I systematically send emails to to find the gap where I could jump in 9 month ago I applied for Design Star with the intention to investigate how design for sustainable behaviour and eco-design will contribute to the concept of the Circular Economy. 2 month ago, I started my Ph...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Cranfield University Review

Cranfield University is a post-graduate only university situated between Bedford and Milton Keynes.  I completed at Cranfield University a Mdes in Design for Innovation and Sustainability in their Centre for Competitive Design between 2011-2012. I was elected as the first Green Officer for the Student Union. I lived on Campus. What were the reasons I chose to study at Cranfield University? Dr Justyna Rybicka completed the same Master at Cranfield a year prior to me, and she encouraged me warmly to attend the university. I was fascinated by the master topic. I was at the time at the University of Northampton scrutinising the reasons why consumers consume so much knowing that the rest of the world is in a pitiful state through a marketing degree. The perspective of understanding further design processes and ways of developing sustainable products were appealing. How was your experience at Cranfield University? My experience was OK. I made some good friends, leading me to...
Post a Comment
Read more