Spring 2000 Cyberseminar in Objectivist Studies
Nietzsche and Objectivism

Unit Four: April 17 - May 14

Eyal Mozes' Comment on Stephen Hicks' Introductory Essay
on the Relationship Between the Philosophies
of Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand

To: TOC Cyberseminar <cybersem@objectivistcenter.org>

Sent: Monday, April 17, 2000 11:25 PM

Subject: Cyberseminar: Re: SH Pt 4 Intro: Nietzsche and Rand

[From: Eyal Mozes]

Looking at Stephen's thorough table of agreements/disagreements between
Nietzsche and Rand, I am puzzled by two of the three agreements Stephen
finds on sense-of-life issue.

I am especially puzzled by "struggle as good" as a point of agreement.
Stephen puts a question-mark on that line in the table; but I can't think of
any statement of Rand that could justify attributing to her, even
tentatively, the view that struggle is good (unless Stephen is referring to
Rand's statement in her writings on esthetics, to the effect that struggle
is good *in fiction*, as crucial element of plot; but that is surely very
different from regarding struggle as good in actual life). Could Stephen
elaborate on just what he is referring to on this point?

As for the point about "engaged in cosmic battle", this is a phrase that
indeed can validly describe views of both Rand and Nietzsche, but in such
totally different contexts that I don't think this qualifies as a point of
agreement. For Nietzche, a cosmic battle is an inherent, inevitable feature
of life, in which all living beings have engaged and must continue to engage
throughout all history. For Rand, the cosmic battle is specifically against
bad philosophies and their consequences, and is not inevitable at all, only
necessary because of these bad philosophies. Rand may have regarded some
periods in the past - e.g. Ancient Greece - as ones in which there was no
cosmic battle; and she certainly would have said that a future rational
society, with no cosmic battle going on, is possible.

So this leaves us with only one sense-of-life issue - exalted sense of human
potential - on which it is clearly justified to regard Rand and Nietzsche as
in agreement (along with the three philosophical issues that Stephen lists,
adding up to only four areas of positive agreement).

Eyal


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Spring 2000 Cyberseminar in Objectivist Studies
cybersem@objectivistcenter.org

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