Ayn Rand Inspired By Serial Killer

Here, via Leiter.

The thing is, this is no mere coincidence, no throw-away ad hominem. From the perspective of the randroids, there are no grounds for criticism of Hickman. In fact, his actions are praiseworthy. He doesn't let the interests of others interfere with his own goals, nor the pursuit of his own happiness. It is, in a way, gruesomely satisfying that Rand came right out and admitted admiration for this psychopath; it provides us with the penultimate line in the reductio. But, in a sense, we already knew that there was, as we might say, a theoretical Hickman that Rand was committed to admiring. (Though I suppose that I'd have predicted that she'd have flinched rather than openly embracing the pure, unadulterated instantiation of her ideas. I didn't realize how comfortable she was with her own insanity.) At any rate, an admiration for psychopaths is an obvious entailment of Rand's dumb-ass, sophomoric ravings. Hickman was already in there--so obviously so that it'd be odd to even say he was latent in the view. The theoretical Hickman, at least, was right there on the surface.

I guess that this won't do anything to dampen the enthusiasm of the Ayn Rand cult...but sometimes people surprise you...