“According to Deleuze, “the mistake of dogmatism is always to fill that which separates, [while] that of empiricism is to leave external what is separated (Difference and Repetition, G. Deleuze)”. In other words, dogmatism posits an extra-worldly realm of essences that falsely unify the diversity of the world, while empiricism falls prey to a nominalistic atomism which treats all beings in terms of an indifferent diversity.” –Levi Bryant: Difference and Giveness.
As luck would have it, this extract from my Deleuze study puts a little shine on the conflicting agendas at work in objectivism -especially as it is practiced by Rand. Starting with latter point on empiricism, it seems to me that the primary limit being described here is empiricism’s obligation to work with isolated systems. And we can say as much as concerns “objectivity” which the objectivists claim to have some kind of firm commitment to. And we can agree with them that there are brute facts in the world that can be observed “objectively”. But what can statements that stay within these perimeters tell us?
1+1=2
Water boils at 212 degrees at atmospheric pressure
And even a relativistic hippy knows better than to step in front of a moving bus
(Not, BTW, that Capitalism is the only system under which individuals can reach their true potential)
Enough said. The problem here is that such statements (based on isolated systems) lack enough span or reach to justify collecting them into some over-riding ideology or “ism”. In this sense, the notion of objectivism becomes a kind of oxymoron. But this, clearly, is a complete blind spot to the objectivists in that they repeatedly fulfill the the previous point on dogmatism by filling in gaps with universal principles that falsely unify reality.
The only narrative I would ascribe to objectivism is that of a badge of authority that gives its practitioners a rationalization for making smug generalizations about reality and doing so as if they are talking about isolated systems that can be demonstrated. One only need look to the sci-fi speculations Rand made about what government intervention would lead to in order to see the hypocrisy she engaged in by calling her system objectivism. As far as I can tell, there was no collection of facts that led to her general conclusions. There was just a knee-jerk reaction to her experiences in Communist Russia and a flight to the other extreme that she then justified by adopting certain buzzwords such as “objectivity” or “facts”. And as impressive as these terms might seem, all she really developed was a dogma that she knew would work to her advantage among rich patrons.
The problem for me is that a lot of people would like to convince you that they started with the facts and worked their way to a conclusion. And they will do so to make seem as if it gives some kind advantage over everyone else. But all it really adds up to is a con job that appeals to doxa: socially programmed responses to socially programmed cues. We would all like to be so above the fray. But as far as I can tell, we all start with experiences (generally of the emotional and anecdotal kind) and dispositions. To act as if one is so special as to bypass or overcome this starting point can only be a form of self deception.