| | | Did somebody say Ayn Rand?
“Happiness is the successful state of life, pain is an agent of death. Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values. A morality that dares to tell you to find happiness in the renunciation of your happiness — to value the failure of your values — is an insolent negation of morality. A doctrine that gives you, as an ideal, the role of a sacrificial animal seeking slaughter on the altars of others, is giving you death as your standard. By the grace of reality and the nature of life, man — every man — is an end in himself, he exists for his own sake, and the achievement of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose.
But neither life nor happiness can be achieved by the pursuit of irrational whims. Just as man is free to attempt to survive in any random manner, but will perish unless he lives as his nature requires, so he is free to seek his happiness in any mindless fraud, but the torture of frustration is all he will find, unless he seeks the happiness proper to man. The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.” — Ayn Rand
St. Thomas Aquinas, Ayn Rand, and Aristotle come from vastly different philosophical and historical backgrounds—Aquinas from medieval Christian theology, Rand from 20th-century atheistic Objectivism, and Aristotle from ancient Greek philosophy. Yet despite these differences, there are meaningful points of similarity among them, especially in their views on reason, reality, and ethics grounded in human nature.
Here’s a structured outline of their key similarities:
1. Primacy of Reason and Reality - Aristotle: Believed reason is the distinguishing characteristic of human beings and the path to understanding reality. His metaphysics emphasized that reality exists independently of perception, and knowledge is acquired through observation and logic.
- Aquinas: Adopted Aristotle's framework and integrated it into Christian theology. He emphasized the compatibility of faith and reason, holding that reason can lead us to many truths about God and the natural world. Reality is ordered and intelligible because it reflects divine reason.
- Rand: Argued for the primacy of objective reality and the sovereignty of reason as man’s only means of knowledge. She rejected faith and mysticism, asserting that reason is absolute.
Common Thread: All three believe in an objective reality and that reason is the means to understand it. Aquinas Christianized Aristotle; Rand secularized him.
2. Teleology and Human Nature - Aristotle: Every being has a purpose (telos), and for humans it is to achieve eudaimonia (flourishing) through rational activity and virtue.
- Aquinas: Incorporated Aristotle’s teleology into his theology. He saw man’s ultimate end as union with God, but this required the development of virtue and reason, consistent with Aristotle’s ethics.
- Rand: Rejected divine purpose but argued that man’s life is the standard of value, and rational self-interest is the moral purpose of life. Happiness is achieved through productive work and virtuous action.
Common Thread: Each thinker grounds ethics in human nature and the fulfillment of human potential, albeit with different ultimate goals (flourishing, salvation, or self-interest).
3. Virtue Ethics - Aristotle: Defined virtues as habits that enable a person to reason and act well; ethics is about achieving a rational balance (the "Golden Mean").
- Aquinas: Expanded Aristotle’s natural virtues and added theological virtues (faith, hope, charity). He believed moral excellence involves habituating the will toward the good.
- Rand: Advocated for rational virtues such as honesty, integrity, independence, and productiveness, seeing them as necessary to support life and reason.
Common Thread: All three advocate virtue ethics—a focus on character and habitual excellence rather than mere rules or outcomes.
4. Individualism and Moral Agency - Aristotle: Saw humans as rational and political animals, capable of autonomous moral reasoning within a community.
- Aquinas: Stressed individual moral responsibility, free will, and the ability to choose good through reason and grace.
- Rand: Radical individualist—saw the independent rational ego as the moral ideal. The individual must never sacrifice reason or self to others.
Common Thread: Emphasis on the moral agency of the individual and the importance of free, rational choice. |
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