Product Description
A combination philosophical exegesis, sociological study, and political tract, this monograph examines Ayn Rand's impact on the sexual attitudes of self-identified Objectivists in the movement to which she gave birth and the gay subculture that she would have disowned.
Review
"The full monograph stands at sixty-two pages long. Although very interesting on its own terms, the book inadvertently serves mostly to support a principle we may express as an epigram: 'The mere touch of a giant raises welts on an ordinary person.' The giant is Ayn Rand (and to a lesser extent, Nathaniel Branden). The ordinary people are the gay and lesbian Objectivists they touched with their wrong-headed remarks about homosexuality being 'immoral' and 'disgusting.' Sciabarra's book is a chronicle of gigantic misbehavior and ordinary injuries, but it also holds out some hope for a new generation." --Kurt Keefner, The Atlasphere
Rand's "strongly negative view of homosexuality . . . influenced many of her followers, leading some gays to remain in the closet or try therapy in the vain hope of changing their orientation. . . . Untangling the story of how Rand's views were gradually put aside or corrected by her successors is the subject of a new monograph by New York University scholar Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Ayn Rand, Homosexuality, and Human Liberation. ... As it turns out, Rand's gripping novels and some of her essays seem destined to have a long and productive influence, while her incidental personal preferences and tastes are likely to be completely forgotten by the next generation. No one could wish things otherwise." --Paul Varnell, Chicago Free Press
Rand's Objectivism continues to attract strong individualists who differ from the heterosexual norm. Among the people Sciabarra interviews, ... members of the movement are more able than Rand to separate personal judgments of taste and value from rational judgments of moral and ethical behavior. ... The most fascinating part to me is the section 'Male Bonding in the Randian Novel,' in which Sciabarra and others describe Rand's view of 'love' between the men in her novels as confused, even self-contradictory. I remember thinking when I read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, 'If this weren't Rand, I'd swear there were homoerotic overtones here.' Apparently, others have had the same thought. You might be surprised to read what Rand had to say about the relationship between Wynand and Roark. I certainly was! ... To make moral pronouncements based on personal taste is contrary to the individualism that was Rand's signature personality trait and the cornerstone of her philosophy of life. ... Sciabarra calls for a new understanding of Objectivism that identifies sexuality as simply one more dimension of diversity that strong-minded individualists can celebrate. --Patrick Quealy, Liberty Magazine
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从结构上来看,这本书的铺陈极其精巧,它不像某些论著那样线性和单向推进,而是采用了一种螺旋上升的方式,不断回到核心概念进行更深层次的挖掘和重新定义。我特别欣赏作者在构建理论框架时所表现出的那种百科全书式的知识储备,各种跨学科的引用和类比信手拈来,却又丝毫不显堆砌。这使得它的论证过程充满了层次感和厚度,每当你以为已经把握了其主旨时,作者总能用一个新的角度将你带入更广阔的视野。这种写作手法,对习惯了直接叙事或简单论证的读者来说,无疑是一个挑战,但对于寻求思维深度的人来说,则是一种极大的享受。它要求读者具备一种“全景式”的阅读能力,将零散的论点整合进一个宏大的哲学蓝图之中。
评分读完合上书本的那一刻,我体验到了一种混合着疲惫与振奋的复杂情绪。这种“智力透支”的感觉,恰恰是优秀哲学著作的标志之一。这本书的行文风格充满了强烈的、近乎文学性的煽动性,但这种煽动性并非基于廉价的情感诉求,而是源于其论证链条的不可抗拒性。它不像是在“说服”你,更像是在“展示”一个清晰的、逻辑完备的现实模型。我特别留意到作者在术语使用上的精确性,每一个关键概念都被赋予了清晰且极具辨识度的内涵,这在很大程度上避免了讨论陷入模糊不清的泥潭。总的来说,这是一本需要时间来消化,并且绝对不会让你在读完后还抱有任何模糊印象的著作,它会在你的思想版图上留下清晰而深刻的印记。
评分这本书,坦率地说,读起来像是一场思想的角斗。作者似乎毫不留情地将我们带入了一个既熟悉又陌生的思想疆域,迫使我们重新审视那些我们习以为常的社会构建和道德藩篱。与其说它是一部论述,不如说它是一次对既有观念的系统性拆解。阅读过程中,我常常感到一种智力上的兴奋,仿佛被邀请参与了一场高风险的思维游戏。它不提供简单的答案,而是抛出一系列尖锐的问题,迫使读者自己去搭建支撑自己信仰的逻辑支架,或者承认其摇摇欲坠。那种文字的张力和论证的严密性,使得每一次翻页都充满了对下一步论点冲击的期待。它要求读者不仅要有开放的心态,更要有能够承受其论证强度的心灵准备。这本书成功地将抽象的哲学探讨,与具体的社会现象编织在一起,形成了一张复杂而引人入胜的思维网。
评分这本书最令人难忘的特质,或许在于它所散发出的那种近乎“异端”的勇气。它挑战的不仅仅是主流观点,更是那些深深嵌入我们文化基因中的,关于“何为正确生活”的基本假设。阅读过程中,我能清晰地感受到作者对于个体生命价值的坚定捍卫,这是一种不妥协、不打折扣的捍卫,它将个体的存在和选择置于一个至高无上的地位。这种立场是如此鲜明和有力,以至于即使你不同意其中的某些推论,也无法否认其内在逻辑的自洽性和情感上的穿透力。它像一面镜子,映照出我们在追求群体认同时,可能悄悄牺牲掉的自我光芒。这本书的价值,可能并不在于让你完全信服,而在于让你清晰地看到你所站立的立场的对立面,并迫使你重新审视你选择背后的全部代价。
评分这本书的叙事节奏,可以说是独树一帜,它既有学术著作的严谨和深度,又时不时闪现出散文的灵动与犀利。我印象最深的是它在处理那些高度敏感和容易引发情绪化反应的主题时,所展现出的近乎冷酷的理性。作者似乎站在一个极高的、近乎超然的视角,冷静地剖析着个体自由与群体规范之间的永恒张力。那种冷静并非麻木,而是一种将情感剥离,专注于探寻事物本质的努力。你可以在字里行间感受到一种强烈的、对“真实”的执着追求,这种追求甚至超越了常见的政治正确或社会和谐的考量。这本书的语言风格是极其凝练的,每一个句子都像是经过千锤百炼的宝石,密度极高,需要反复咀嚼才能体会其深层含义。它不是一本可以轻松消遣的书,而是一本需要投入时间、带着笔记去研读的文本。
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