Ayn Rand
What are the source of rights in Ayn Rand’s Virtue of Selfishness?
Please write a sentence or two describing the source of rights in Ayn Rand’s Virtue of Selfishness.
Thank you and the best answer will go to the one who communicated the best about the source of rights.
The fact that you exist is your right to own that existence. Who but you can have “ownership” of your existence–if not you?
“There is only one fundamental right (all the others are its consequences or corollaries): a man’s right to his own life…the right to life means the right to engage in self-sustaining and self-generated action—which means: the freedom to take all the actions required by the nature of a rational being for the support, the furtherance, the fulfillment and the enjoyment of his own life. (Such is the meaning of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.) “Man’s Rights,” The Virtue of Selfishness, 93
“The fact that you exist” give you what are known as “natural rights”. John Locke wrote about government that was by the consent of the governed. From this Thomas Jefferson and other Americans realized that by your very existence you had these natural rights; you could not consent to give them to the government if you didn’t have them. This meant the individual was “sovereign”, not the state.
“Individual sovereignty was not a peculiar conceit of Thomas Jefferson: It was the common assumption of the day” http://www.friesian.com/ellis.htm
“Individualism regards man—every man—as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his own life, a right derived from his nature as a rational being. Individualism holds that a civilized society, or any form of association, cooperation or peaceful coexistence among men, can be achieved only on the basis of the recognition of individual rights—and that a group, as such, has no rights other than the individual rights of its members.”
from “Racism,” The Virtue of Selfishness, 129.
http://aynrandlexicon.com/
Ayn Rand Mike Wallace Interview 1959 part 1
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I am John Galt Mug $15.95 Buy this mug & let the world know who you are!… |
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Who is John Galt? / Atlas Will Shrug Mug $15.95 “Who is John Galt?” on one side and “Atlas Will Shrug” on the other…. |
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Howard Roark Who is Going to Stop Me? Coffee Mug $15.95 For the person of independent-mindedness and integrity.. Not the the “second-handers.”… |
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2112 $2.66 Only Rush could have pulled this off, and only in the ’70s. 2112–the title suite of the band’s 1976 breakthrough album–is a comically pretentious, futuristic rock opera written by a nerdy drummer and sung by a whiny-voiced geek. It also happens to be a great piece of rock & roll that lifts the listener through a variety of moods and textures from genteel acoustic (“Oracle”) to thrilling metal (“… |
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My Favorite Headache $18.98 It’s ironic that someone associated with Ayn Rand’s cult of the individual would record 22 Rush albums before getting around to doing one of his own. Of course, Geddy Lee hasn’t lacked self-expression as the Canadian trio’s lead singer and bassist, but this first solo album does highlight interesting aspects of the esoteric rocker’s talent. Recording and cowriting with Ben Mink (formerly of fellow… |
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Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life $16.99 Music, narration and dialogue from the original motion picture soundtrack of the Oscar nominated feature documentary, AYN RAND: A SENSE OF LIFE. Original score composed by Jeff Britting with narration excerpts by Sharon Gless. Also included are dialogue excerpts from Ayn Rand’s play, IDEAL, performed by Janne Peters and a rare archival recording of Ayn Rand’s testimony before the House Committee o… |
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Love Letters [VHS] $14.98 VHS tape. Jennifer Jones delivers an Oscar nominated performance in this love story/psychological drama about a lovely, trusting young woman who suffers from amnesia after her husband’s violent death. During World War II, Roger Morland(Robert Scully) persuades his friend Alan Quinton (Joseph Cotten) to pen passionate love letters to Victoria Remington (Jones). Believing that Morland is the author… |
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The Fountainhead [VHS] $4.87 Exhibiting a darker edge to his hero persona, the strapping Gary Cooper has the (Frank Lloyd) Wright stuff as architect Harold Roark, a “fool visionary” who refuses to conform his artistic ideas to popular taste. His inflexibility makes enemies out of a tabloid architecture critic and a tycoon (Raymond Massey), who proclaims, “All men can be bought… there are no men of integrity.” Keating (Kent … |
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Ayn Rand – WE THE LIVING [VHS] $65.00 Beautiful, strong-willed Kira (Alida Valli) is torn between two men (Rossano Brazzi and Fosco Giachetti) while she courageously defies the authoritarian rule of post-revolutionary Russia. Her passionate struggle for the right to her own life burns at the core of WE THE LIVING. A Scalera Films Production/Directed by Goffredo Allessandrini/From the novel by Ayn Rand/Released by Duncan Scott Pro… |
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Atlas Shrugged Wall Art – Who is John Galt? (Long) 60(W) x 11.6(H) $50.00 This beautiful wall expression will make a statement in your home or office with a painted-on look. Product Questions: Q: What are Wall Expressions made of? Q: Will it all be on one big sticker with a clear background? |
January 6, 2009 1:18 am 
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