Is it logically possible to believe in Objectivism and God simutanously?

Question

I started reading the philosophy of Ayn Rand recently and completed her two novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I accept some of her concepts such as self-interest but continue to struggle with the atheist point of view. I was brought up Catholic and continue to believe in God. Is it possible to mix and match philosophical theories together and does such practice constitute creating your own new philosphy?

Answer 1

If you believe in Objectivism , then that belief becomes your God ( concept) . That is all.

Long before Ayn Rand, such thoughts had always surfaced . Ayn rand`s is also one such  thought. You can have your own , based on your comfort level.. If you believe in safety in large groups jion a main stream religion. If you donot , keep your wise counsel.

Some 5000 years ago , just as Pagan  ruled in the middle ast , In the Eastern part of the world ( Now called India0 , there arose  a group called "Universal righteousness"  ( sanaatana Dharma)  that believed good , moral living .  It is this movement  that later came to be called as "Hindu" religion after the British came to rule the land and called the people here as Hindus.

Actually , there is no such thing as Hindu Religion. It is a mixure of the Code of Living and Pagan worship.Gods were all, added later and given shape , size and gender.

You can be free to use anything you like. Ask yourself a question. were you born with a religion or born into a religious  group? That is it.

Answer 2

It would be difficult because most religious dogmas want you to inherently believe in ONLY a certain and well-defined set of beliefs so mixing say Catholicism or Islam with objectivism would not work, it might work with one of the non-theistic religions like Buddhism and especially New Age but it does not seem to work in traditional theistic religions.

Answer 3

OK the key term here is RATIONAL self-interest.

Not just self interest.

Second it would conflict with Catholicism but not necessarily with a belief in god.

Catholics stress the selfless virtues.

Objectivism deliberately attacks this idea and posits that it will lead to a loathing of ones own humanity.

The question of gods existence is not really adressed.

If you want to be rational I would suggest that you learn about the arguments for gods existence.

There are some good ones like argument from design and fine tunning also causality or the first cause.

But I have never encountered an argument for god that makes the bridge between that argument and a particular religion.

They always require a leap of fallacy.

The reason is because these arguments can not reasonably make assumptions about the intelligent designer other than he is intelligent.

And first cause is the same as well as fine tunning arguments.

the arguments can only say this, god WAS first cause, you can not assume that god still exists because you can not demonstrate that god was not used up in the creation of the universe.

Or god designed the universe intelligently.

You can say much else for the same reasons as above.

Basically I have yet to encounter an argument that supports both the existence of god and a particular religion.

God may have existed and created the universe and may even still exist, but you can not use that as proof of any one religion.

Good luck I hope you choose RATIONAL self-interest as an ethical compass.

Answer 4

No, it is not possible.

"Existence is a self-sufficient primary. It is not a product of a supernatural dimension, or of anything else. There is nothing antecedent to existence, nothing apart from it—and no alternative to it. Existence exists—and only existence exists. Its existence and its nature are irreducible and unalterable."

Leonard Peikoff “The Analytic-Synthetic Dichotomy,” from

Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology; Ayn Rand

This is a statement of metaphysical "naturalism." A more comprehensive statement is this:

"Naturalism, challenging the cogency of the cosmological, teleological, and moral arguments, holds that the universe requires no supernatural cause and government, but is self-existent, self-explanatory, self-operating, and self-directing, that the world-process is not teleological and anthropocentric, but purposeless, deterministic (except for possible tychistic events), and only incidentally productive of man; that human life, physical, mental, moral and spiritual, is an ordinary natural event attributable in all respects to the ordinary operations of nature; and that man's ethical values, compulsions, activities, and restraints can be justified on natural grounds, without recourse to supernatural sanctions, and his highest good pursued and attained under natural conditions, without expectation of a supernatural destiny."

Dictionary of Philosophy; Runes

These statements are specific that no god is necessary to explain the existence of existence.

Here is another way to explain why:

If God was at one time the only existent, then God did not create existence because he was an existent. Existents exist only in existence, not outside of it. That is the definition of an existent: "a 'thing' with empirical or mental existence." (An idea within the mind is a mental existent, but it is still within, not outside of, existence itself.

"Naturalism is not so much a special system as a point of view or tendency common to a number of philosophical and religious systems; not so much a well-defined set of positive and negative doctrines as an attitude or spirit pervading and influencing many doctrines. As the name implies, this tendency consists essentially in looking upon nature as the one original and fundamental source of all that exists, and in attempting to explain everything in terms of nature. Either the limits of nature are also the limits of existing reality, or at least the first cause, if its existence is found necessary, has nothing to do with the working of natural agencies. All events, therefore, find their adequate explanation within nature itself."

The New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

Answer 5

Objectivism is a venue for seeking ones own happiness and making your self who you are. Since as a Christan you believe that God is life, power, and happiness, those two can coincide. Those who believe in God follow his path to happiness, to discover who they are in Christ. Those who are seeking the Will of God also seek his plan for their life which leads to happiness and a sense of who you are meant to be. It is hard to explain this concept in words, but I hope I got my point across.

Answer 6

Objectivism is a belief system which denies Being (God).

However, the postulate AR made ("Existence is") is more generally expandable, than her conclusions.

She assumed God is not, because she could not discern God.  Hence, she perceived only gross materialism regarding "Existence."

Atheism as denying God is illogical, as it assumes one is Omniscient and Omnipresent regarding gathering evidence.  Agnosticism in this regard is the furthest logical extreme.

Philosophers may be compared to Maritain's three types of artists:  the aesthete who creates (thinks) to please herself, the magician who thinks because she can think powerfully, and the artisan who thinks because she is humbly seeking truth.

You might enjoy "The Great Divorce," C. S. Lewis,

"Testimony of Light," Helen Greaves,

"Nihilism," Father Seraphim Rose,

"A Philosophy of Universality," O. M. Aivanhov,

"Freakonomics," S. Levitt,

"The Path of the Higher Self," Mark Prophet, and

"Expecting Adam," Martha Beck.

Answer 7

First off see - http://www.aynrand.org/ and you will see she did write more than two novels. I’m sure you knew this and only referred to the two most known.  Secondly check out - http://www.aynrandlexicon.com/ as this provides a listing of definitions and is a great resource.

Ayn Rand would explain the beginnings of the universe by stating existence exist – that this is an irreducible axiom nothing exists outside of it and it was not created but has always been. As for hope she would say to live your life to the fullest while alive and don’t live your life for a promise of it when dead.

As for the higher being, higher design – it is a contradiction as God would need to be outside of existence as it exists.

Answer 8

try studying objectivist metaphysics or Buddhism