Ayn Rand's Brilliant Term: Social Metaphysician

Ayn Rand's brilliant term: "Social Metaphysician"


Welcome to the Front Porch and a continuation of our discussion below in the previous article.

Our subject centered around the liberating evolvement to maturity, when we go from letting others determine our perceptions, conclusions, and life course to the mature realization that, since it's us making the fundamental choice regardless (whether to try to guess what others think, or 'man up' and become self-reliant) why not accept responsibility for our conclusions and think for ourselves?

Ayn Rand's best character studies of the ultimate consequences of which choice we make are Peter Keating and Howard Roark in THE FOUNTAINHEAD.

It was here that Rand illustrated the ultimate fates of the self-reliant man of integrity vs. the phony who dared not begin to think for himself. In the latter case, the phony was permanently suspended in the early adolescent groove of concerning himself not with what was true, but what others thought was true.

Howard Roark suffered the short term social and career consequences of sticking to his own code of beliefs, and being a man of integrity. He ultimately triumphed for the same reasons.

Peter Keating eventually paid the ultimate price for following others, who were merely doing the same in an ever-widening circle of ignorance, misfortune and calamity.

Rand coined a term for those who tried to pry from the minds of others their own perceptions, codes of conduct, and day to day operational living: "Social Metaphysicians." The most charitable thing we can say about Social Metaphysicians is they never completely grow up. A "Social Metaphysician" put differently by Rand, is a second-hander. Someone who obtains their information second-hand through the filters of others. It's guaranteed frustration and failure long term.

For whatever reason, they don't understand that as an adult they are charged with using their cognitive skills, acquired knowledge, and personal experience to the best of their ability. They give up their power to a mystical "others," or in some cases, specific others who play and by nature abuse their role of 'parents', overseers,and spiritual and de facto tyrants. These faux parents may be folks directly in the person's life, or faces on TV, or distant figures posturing as being concerned for this stranger's welfare in places like Washington DC.

Regardless, they are walking disapointments, even disasters, waiting to happen. And tragically, they vote!!