Hands down, this is the most fascinating chapter, so far, because Ayn finally talks about several specific artists, and ponders the conflict between "sense of life" (which tends to fascinate us ) and "rational metaphysics" which rejects every artist that she mentions.
Even her favorite writer, Victor Hugo comes up short, even if "may project a blend of reason and passionate emotion": "I love the work of Victor Hugo, in a deeper sense than admiration for his superlative literary genius, and I find many similarities between his sense of life and mine, although I disagree with virtually all of his explicit philosophy" Wow. And please note that explicit philosophy is not a matter of opinion as far as Ayn is concerned. Philosophy is either right or it's wrong -- so she is telling us that the metaphysics of her favorite writer is wrong. How could she possibly recommend him? Thank you, Ayn, for your honesty! Concerning other writers: "I like Dostoevsky for his superb mastery of plot-structure and his merciless dissection of the psychology of evil, even though his philosophy and his sense of life are almost diametrically opposed to mine" "I like the early novels of Mickey Spillane for his plot ingenuity and moralistic style, even though his sense of life clashes with mine, and no explicit philosophical element is present in his work" "I cannot stand Tolstoy, and reading him was the most boring literary duty I ever had to perform, his philosophy and his sense of life are not merely mistaken, but evil, and yet from a purely literary viewpoint, on his own terms, I have to evaluate him as a good writer" -- "Tolstoy gives me the feeling of an unsanitary backyard which I do not care to enter" Yes -- don't play in Mr. Tolstoy's backyard, Ayn. It's filthy back there! Concerning painters: "Salvador Dali, whose style projects the luminous clarity of a rational psycho-epistemology, while most (though not all) of his subjects project an irrational and revoltingly evil metaphysics" "Vermeer combines a brilliant clarity of style with the bleak metaphysics of Naturalism" "the deliberate blurring and visual distortions of the so-called "painterly" school, from Rembrandt on down -- down to the rebellion against consciousness expressed by the pheneomenon such as Cubism which seeks specifically to disintegreate man's conscousness by painting objects as man does not perceive them" So who, other than herself, would she present as a metaphysically correct artist? I don't think there are any! Which only leaves us with esthetic criteria to make an evaluation of art and artists. Unfortunately, "the esthetic principles which apply to all art, regardless of an individual artist's philosophy, and which must guide an objective evaluation , are outside the scope of this discussion. I will mention only that such principles are defined by the science of esthetics - a task at which modern philosophy has failed dismally" As have we all. ____________________________________________________________ Best Weight Loss Program - Click Here! http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/fc/BLSrjnxRO9pe4gBRmxglMatbUklXZI LICr5RVnuTk9YdYlJcSL4MkKoOWYI/
