Talk:Purpose

Rand clearly states in John Gault's speech that no living thing acts to end its own life on a systematic basis. But among the majority population of this planet, single-celled animals, this is done constantly. Single-celled animals 'kill themselves' in cellular apoptosis, or programmed cell death, as part of the development of most (all?) multi-cellular animals. Rand's claim that no living thing acts to end its own life on a systematic basis is false. If Rand's arguments build on the claim that no living thing acts to end its own life on a systematic basis, then all arguments built on this claim are likewise false. As this is a core claim of objectivism, it presents a serious challenge to objectivism as a whole.