From: rseymour@reed.edu (Robert Seymour)
Subject: Re: Rush & Ayn Rand - HELP PLEASE
Keywords: Rand, Ayn Rand, Objectivism, Emotion
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 05:49:51 GMT

In article <1992Sep4.141951.14823@exu.ericsson.se> exumfs@exu.ericsson.se (Mark Steph) writes:

> What I mean is this: 
> 
> What I have read/heard on Obj. theories of emotions and the Mind/Body Dichotomy 
> is that emotions/reason are *integrated*.  By integrated I mean that they are
> not 2 functions, but actually 2 parts of the same function.
> 
> Yes, emotions are "secondary," but only because they are a part of reason.
> Emotions are automatic responses to perceptions, "programmed" by reason.  Like
> a computer program, they happen without concious control.  Also like a program,
> they may contain programming errors--which is why people have often said
> things like "my heart says yes, but my mind says no".  This doesn't mean that
> the heart (emotion) is always incorrect and reason is correct--  It may mean that
> your reasoning contains improper premises or incorrect logic and your emotions
> (assuming you have "programmed" them correctly) come up with the correct answer.
> 
> So, emotions are an extremely valuable tool. When heart/mind differ in conclusion,
> it means it is time to closely examine the causes for both conclusions--integrating
> heart and mind ("in a single, perfect sphere").

	Here's my understanding of how Ayn Rand explains the relation between emotion
and reason: (most of this is from Atlas Shrugged and some from the non-fiction) As John
Galt explains (in pirate radio broadcast?), emotion is a natural engine of the intellect. 
It is not necessarily a computer program, which has a definite iterative programming, but
a part of the subconcious which reacts to current stimuli. Reason is the rational process 
through which we can come to decisions, but emotion is a split second guide at the current
state of things. Emotion is set by the way we live, think and organize our minds, but
it is done so as a background process over which we do not exert concious control. The
emotion contains errors because in the course of our lives we do not totally live up
to the standards of reason. Thus our emotional engine inherits small "glitches" due
to the fact that we give it inconsistent data to work with.
	Ayn Rand does not consider the rational faculty and the emotional engine to be
one and the same, but looks on them as two perspectives on the same decision. In this
way emotions and reason provide a double check on one another: if they disagree, we
check to see if it is our reasoning which is not sound or if our emotions are not
concurring with reason. If the latter is the case, then we use this indicator to figure
out what part of our actions and thoughts is giving our emotional engine an 
inconsistent parameter.
	However, in your conclusion I agree with you. The heart and mind together 
provide us with a way of reaching a better conclusion in our thought process. The
two "halves" can be used together to reach a more perfect (Aristotelean) spherical
state.

P.S.	Does anyone know a source for Ayn Rand fiction other that the material 
commonly published (i. e. We The Living, Anthem, Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, 
The Early Ayn Rand, and Night of January 14th (I think thats the date)?  Any
information on where to locate more material would be greatly appreciated!
--
Robert Seymour				rseymour@reed.edu
Reed College #611			
3203 SE Woodstock Blvd			
Portland, OR 97202-8199			(NeXTmail OK)