Ayn Rand

I am commencing a close study of all of her books and novels. One point that she makes early on is that there is a a deep, inextricable, powerful between the ethical system that dominates a people, and control of the exalted emotions that add meaning and fulfillment to the lives of those anxiously seeking after meaning.

She is an atheist and rationalist, but she acknowledges that theists long had a monopoly in Western society in how ethics and these longing, deep emotions are expressed and experienced.

I reject her atheism and excessive rationalism, but I was taken by her observation that these deep, longing emotions must be expressed and be given ethical support in order that average people find meaning and fulfillment in their lives. Western traditionalists marry ethics and existential sentiment through theological resort. Rand proposes to tap into these powerful emotions by linking them the individualism, rationalism, self-actualizing and humanism--even transhumanism.

As a moderate I would propose that both routes must be tapped into to evoke those deepest, most satifying feelings. To tie them to humanism, theology and ethics are all routes to travel along.