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/ 25Dec09 / Topic > Re: How much of the game’s message
/ is based off of Ayn Rand’s philosophy? /
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I know exactly how you feel, StreetBob570. I used to own
a couple of Rand’s books many years ago, but don’t recall
reading more than tiny bits and pieces from them. This is
because I was confused by the way she teaches philosophy.
Philosophy via novels is quite different from philosophy via
straight-up prose. Now I have no problem with ‘rational self-
interest’ as such; how this is interpreted is another matter.
But this Objectivism business IS a bit odd, as it seems to be
something lifted whole from the ancient Greeks, polished off
a bit, and then granted a fancy new and modern title.
What the heck is that? … Indeed the bulk of Ayn Rand’s
philosophy seems to be derived more or less straight from
Epicurus. Now it’s true that the Great Master may need some
polishing for post-modern times, but I suspect that Ayn
missed the mark on that …
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/ Bioshock Forum / 26Dec09 / Topic > The 13th Muse Tavern /
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] cy previously say: well done, Sammael93.
] and what then is the significance of the 13th Muse Tavern?
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Well, perhaps sam is busy with X-mas, or maybe supposes the
question irrelevant or otherwise unworthy; but is it so in fact?
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“According to Greek mythology there are nine muse, goddesses
who inspire artists, musicians, writers and poets …” (A.O. Kime).
The names of these nine muse are: Calliope (Epic Poetry) ,
Clio (History) , Erato (Love Poetry) , Euterpe (Music) ,
Melpomene (Tragedy) , Polyhymnia (Hymns) , Terpsichore
(Dance) , Thaleia (Comedy) , Urania (Astronomy) .
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“The Muses were brought to life to make the world disremember
the evil and relieve the sorrows and to praise the gods …
Apollo was the main teacher of the Muses. They were usually
accompanying him and the Graces on their strolls and loved
singing and dancing on soft feet on laurel leaves, while Apollo
was playing the lyre.” – from www.greek-gods.info
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Party-babes, in other words. Now of these immortal daughters
of heaven and earth, the true source of all art and science, it
seems to me that Clio is the most important, Thaleia the most
necessary, and Euterpe by far the most powerful. Would the
good miss Rand agree with this assessment, eh? I’m thinking
maybe not. If there were only nine muse, maybe 13 points
toward two of them, #1 Calliope (Epic Poetry), and #3 Erato
(Love Poetry). We all know of Ayn’s love for huge massive
novels full of drama and passion. So perhaps Epic-Love is
the real driving force of her philosophy, it’s true and eternal
meaning … What do you think? Are the muse somewhat
relevant now perhaps?
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You, my good cyber-friends, as excellent gamers, and as
citizens of Rapture, wander about the place wasting people
left, right, and center (they are warped and twisted people
true, but still). Hey, did you know that there’s at least one
splicer that won’t attack you on sight? (I think he’s on the Fort
Frolic map). All he does is mumble nonsense, and follow you
around, and just be really annoying. So will you kill someone
just for being annoying? Yes? And is there anything at all
rational about such behavior? Anyway, you explore Rapture,
and you impose your will as you go along from one misguided
situation to the next …
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Is it a good will that drives you? Or an evil one? If you are
saving the little-sisters instead of harvesting them, are you
not empowered by Epic-Love? Does not your love for them,
in and of itself, justify the war against Ryan and Fontaine?
It certainly works for me. Rational self-interest, you say?
Would it not be “more rational” to just harvest the little-sisters?
You could even justify this by saying that you are simply
putting them out of their misery; a form of enlightened
euthanasia. Yes, but this could work only IF rational self-
interest were your sole and chief motivation! So what exactly
does ‘rational self-interest’ even mean when it is perfectly
obvious that the only things worth fighting for, and dying for,
are things that are necessarily larger than the individual self.
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The problem with the so-called “great men” (such as Ryan
and Fontaine) is not that they are ambitious, but rather that
they are not ambitious enough. Why? Because they love the
little things; the tiny things smaller than themselves that unduly
magnify the size of the great man’s ego. If they thus love
themselves above all things, then they are truly small indeed.
So it is only the big things in life by which we can get an
accurate measure of our real size and worth as human beings.
The individual, no matter how noble or well-intentioned, no
matter how BIG, can never outweigh the value and meaning
of others. Lofty goals motivate individuals, yes. Lofty goals
such as freedom, art, science, health, wealth, and power …
“Aren’t peace and security worth fighting for? Worlds without
violence! Worlds in which reason rules!” (Doctor Amadiro,
from ‘Robots and Empire’, Asimov, p.278) But these values
are only important to the individual insofar as they can be
applied to those around said person. Yes, it is very true
that we are what we make ourselves into; but without friends,
says the Good Guru Epicurus, we are nothing, and life is NOT
worth living! Here then is the very essence of all criminal
thinking: “I am bigger than all those around me.”
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Or perhaps it is the case that Ayn Rand is herself
the 13th Muse . . . The Muse of Philosophy as Art!
The phillosophical-muse, as it were … 
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