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Ayn Rand? Ayn Rand Ayn
Who Is Ayn Rand? Ayn Rand Few 20th century intellectuals have been as influential—and controversial— as the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. Her thinking still has a profound impact, particularly on those who come to it through her novels, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead—with their core messages of individualism, self-worth, and the right to live without the impositions of others. Although ignored or scorned by some academics, traditionalists, pro- gressives, and public intellectuals, her thought remains a major influence on Ayn Rand many of the world’s leading legislators, policy advisers, economists, entre- preneurs, and investors. INTRODUCTION AN Why does Rand’s work remain so influential? Ayn Rand: An Introduction illuminates Rand’s importance, detailing her understanding of reality and human nature, and explores the ongoing fascination with and debates about her conclusions on knowledge, morality, politics, economics, government, AN INTRODUCTION public issues, aesthetics and literature. The book also places these in the context of her life and times, showing how revolutionary they were, and how they have influenced and continue to impact public policy debates. EAMONN BUTLER is director of the Adam Smith Institute, a leading think tank in the UK. He holds degrees in economics and psychology, a PhD in philosophy, and an honorary DLitt. A former winner of the Freedom Medal of Freedom’s Foundation at Valley Forge and the UK National Free Enterprise Award, Eamonn is currently secretary of the Mont Pelerin Society. Butler is the author of many books, including introductions on the pioneering economists Eamonn Butler Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, F. -
Libertarians in Bush's World
ESSAY ON LIBERTY+ LIBERTARIANS IN BUSH’S WORLD Todd Seavey* Imagine ordinary, non-ideological people hearing about an obscure politi- cal sect called libertarianism, which emphasizes self-ownership, property rights, resistance to tyranny and violence, the reduction of taxation and regulation, control over one’s own investments, and the de-emphasizing of litigation as a primary means of dispute resolution. Since this philosophy has very few adherents in the general population and is very much a minority position among intellectuals, one might expect proponents of the creed to count themselves lucky, given the likely alternatives, if the president of the country in which most of them live increasingly emphasized the themes of freedom and ownership in his major speeches; toppled brutal totalitarian regimes in two countries while hounding democracy-hating theocratic terrorists around the globe; cut taxes (despite howls even from some in the free-market camp that the cuts were too deep); called for simplification of the tax code; appointed relatively industry-friendly officials to major regulatory bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration despite frequent criti- cism by the media; proposed partially privatizing Social Security (America’s largest socialist boondoggle but one long regarded as sacrosanct by political analysts); and pushed tort reform to combat the chilling effect of lawsuits on doctors and manu- facturers. + Essays on Liberty is a continuing series of the Journal of Law & Liberty, dedicated to explorations of freedom and law from perspectives outside the legal academy. * Director of Publications for the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAnd- Fears.com), which does not necessarily endorse the views expressed here. -
The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand
THE CONTESTED LEGACY OF AYN RAND Truth and Toleration in Objectivism THE CONTESTED LEGACY OF AYN RAND THE CONTESTED LEGACY OF AYN RAND Truth and Toleration in Objectivism DAVID KELLEY The OBJECTIVIST CENTER Transaction Publishers Poughkeepsie, New York New Brunswick (U.S.) & London (U.K.) First Printing, February, 1990 Second Revised Edition, 2000 Copyright © 1990 by David Kelley Copyright © 2000 by David Kelley All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted in any form without written permission from the author. For information address Dr. David Kelley, The Objectivist Center, 11 Raymond Avenue, Suite 31, Poughkeepsie, New York 12603 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kelley, David, 1949– The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand: Truth and Toleration in Objectivism/ David Kelley Includes bibliographic references (p. 103–111) and index. ISBN 1-57724-010-3 Printed in the United States of America The Objectivist Center 11 Raymond Avenue, Suite 31 Poughkeepsie, New York 12603 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE TO THE 2ND EDITION 9 INTRODUCTION 13 I. MORAL JUDGMENT 19 COGNITION AND EVALUATION 19 MORAL JUDGMENT 21 TYPES OF MORAL JUDGMENT 23 THE TEMPERAMENT OF A JUDGE 28 II. SANCTION 31 EXISTENTIAL AID AND MORAL SANCTION 31 THE CASE OF LIBERTARIANISM 36 III. ERROR AND EVIL 39 IDEAS AND ORIGINAL SIN 40 THE ROLE OF IDEAS IN HISTORY 43 THE SCOPE OF HONEST ERROR 50 INHERENTLY DISHONEST IDEAS 57 IV. TOLERATION 61 TOLERANCE, JUSTICE, AND BENEVOLENCE 61 TOLERANCE AND OBJECTIVITY 63 V. OBJECTIVISM 71 OPEN AND CLOSED SYSTEMS 73 OBJECTIVISM AS AN OPEN SYSTEM 75 WHAT IS OBJECTIVISM? 81 THE OBJECTIVIST MOVEMENT 85 POSTSCRIPT 95 NOTES 103 APPENDIX A: A QUESTION OF SANCTION 113 APPENDIX B: BETTER THINGS TO DO 119 INDEX 123 PREFACE TO THE 2ND EDITION 2000 Ayn Rand’s philosophical novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged made her the most controversial author of her age. -
Tara Smith's Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: a Positive Contribution?
Reason Papers Vol. 35, no. 1 Response to Eyal Mozes, “Tara Smith’s Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics: A Positive Contribution?” Carrie-Ann Biondi Marymount Manhattan College Irfan Khawaja Felician College 1. Introduction In this discussion note, we respond to Eyal Mozes’s critique of Tara Smith’s Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics via his criticism of Carrie-Ann Biondi’s review of that book in Reason Papers.1 We take issue with Mozes’s discussion of Ayn Rand’s non-conflicts-of-interest principle (NCIP) along with his discussion of the nature of moral virtue. We end by taking issue with his inappropriately moralized conception of philosophical discourse. Since we agree with many (though not all) of Mozes’s claims about emergencies and the scope of morality, we leave those topics undiscussed. 2. Conflicts of Interest Mozes offers two objections to Smith’s discussion of the NCIP: For any book that purports to be a presentation of Rand’s normative ethics, a crucial part of its task is to give an elaborate explanation and defense of Rand’s no-conflicts-of-interest-principle, filling in the details of Rand’s own cursory discussion. In evaluating such a book, I don’t think there’s any question more important than how well it succeeds in explaining and defending this principle. Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics disgracefully fails in this task.2 We reject every element of this criticism. 1 Tara Smith, Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), hereafter ARNE; Carrie-Ann Biondi, “Review Essay: Tara Smith’s Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist,” Reason Papers 30 (Fall 2008), pp. -
A Reply to Tibor Machan
LIBERTARIAN PAPERS VOL. 2, ART. NO. 9 (2010) WHEN IS A MONOPOLY NOT A MONOPOLY? A REPLY TO TIBOR MACHAN * NICHOLAS DYKES IN A LENGTHY FOOTNOTE to his essay “Reconciling Anarchism and Minarchism”1 (henceforth RAM) Tibor Machan accuses me of engaging in equivocation, and also of psychologising, in my essay “The Facts of Reality: Logic and History in Objectivist Debates about Government”2 (henceforth TFOR). Machan writes: … Dykes doesn’t seem to realise that monopoly in the use of retaliatory force is not the same as a legal or coercive monopoly in that use. He persists in this equivocation. Yet, one can have a monopoly that comes about naturally, because it is freely granted to one by people—as, say, they effectively granted the Beatles monopoly status in rock music or Fred Astaire in dancing or IBM in computers and Microsoft in software … without keeping anyone out by force. Furthermore, if people freely select a group of specialists to protect them by way of a long-term binding contract [or compact] that’s not to establish an objectionable, coercive monopoly, merely an exclusive but binding relationship …. It is along such lines that Rand’s notion of the “monopoly” of retaliatory force needs to be understood (RAM 61). Machan adds further on that equivocation is a “serious flaw” in my essay. To begin with, let’s be clear about what the term ‘equivocation’ means. I hardly need to point out that it is a fallacy in logic, one which involves *Nicholas Dykes ([email protected]), a British-Canadian writer currently living in England, is author of Old Nick’s Guide to Happiness: A Philosophical Novel (Ledbury, UK: Lathé Biosas Publishing, 2008). -
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. r·~ \ . " • • · ....... 1... .- ; ..... Pa e 1 ' . ._. •'; t Ill • : • ., 'Y • It a, lftt_~,f , "• , , t •~<r.~'J. ·-•~~~,-•Jff ••1 ,, •••, ... ' .,.• ••••, ,r ,_.,,I... l:~... ·, . , ......:.. ·. .. Pa~e·2 ,,.. ,r• • J •ir ~ , ,'f,' • 'to\ .,. ~-.,: .~ . ~ ,/_!;,: ,,, '11,,l ~ ,;. ' , ;; r ~· -. ", ,..::;.r,. 1-. •~,l ·····"' ··,·~·•~~ •.. , -~••::-;r,. ~ ••·;, ,. ..., •,1, .. , d . ..... ... nager •,~ ~-'' , .....,(':""'' •• -., I '►I 1 ,, ·~~ • ...it • .......~ ··t ... ••t \ VI, 1 OPEN LECTURES The tuition for all Open Lectures is included in the basic registration fee. If you are registered for one week, you may_ attend every open lecture through July 23rd, at no additional cliarge. If you are registered Tor two weeks, you may attend every open 1ecture. Your name tag w111 be your admission ticket. All Open Lectures conVffle in the 13allroom. FAch of the four lectures by Dr. Peikoff is from 10:30 am-12:30 pm; all other Open Lectures are from 10:30am-12 pm. Announaments will be made fiveminutes1Jefore the lectures begin at 10:25 am. READING AND WRITING Leonard Peikoff Tiris mini-course offers an Objectivist version of two of the three "R"s. It discusses how to read fiction (specifically, how to analy~~ great plays)-and how to write non-fiction (specifically, how to present great ideas). ~e wnting segment (sessions one and three) focuses on achieving clarity in ideological speeches, letters to the ed!tor, etc. F~r most topics (e.g., establishing context, selecting essentials, creating a structure), students will be assigned_ a bnef paragraph to write in class. Dr. Peikoff's own answer to the assignment (photocopied in advance) will~ handed out as part of the ensuing analysis. 1be rea~hng segm~nt (sessions two and four) focuses on the method of identifying the essential events and the metaphysical value-JUdgments of two twentieth-century Romantic dramas, one now virtually unknown, the other famo~s. -
On Kelley on Kant Fred Seddon, Wheelingjesuit College
Reason Papers Discussions On Kelley on Kant Fred Seddon, WheelingJesuit College Randall Dipert, in a review of David Kelley's The Evidence ofthe Senses: A Realist Theory of Perception (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1986 [henceforth: ES]) appearing in the Spring 1987 issue of Reason Papers, characterized it as "an important book," citing among his reasons the fact that ES is "a professionally competent defense of epistemoiogical theses originating with Ayn Rand" (57). Dipert also, however, found Kelley's treatment of Kant "most bizarre" and "profoundly uninformed" and recom- mended that Kelley "should bow out of historical criticism" (60-61). In the Spring 1988 issue of Reason Papers, Robert E. Knapp attempted a defense of Kelley's interpretation of Kant. For reasons of my own, however, I find myself in agreement with the general thrust of Dipert's characterizations, both positive and negative.' In this paper I propose to submit Kelley's analysis of Rand's and Kant's views of the activity and passivity of mind to a close and critical examination. Rand claimed that "[oln every fundamental issue, Kant's philosophy is the exact opposite of ~bjectivism."~Even discounting for Rand's usual hyperbole; this statement seems to be glaringly false in light both of Kelley's book and Rand's own Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (New York: New American Library, 1979 [Henceforth: IOE]). To see that a universal affirm- ative proposition is false only one counterexample is necessary. That is, we need to find a fundamental issue upon which Rand and Kant agree (against the background of another philosopher who disagrees with both of them). -
David Kelley, the Evidence of the Senses Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1986, 262 Pp
David Kelley, The Evidence of the Senses Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1986, 262 pp. Reviewed by Stephen R. C. Hicks, Indiana University Review published in Auslegung 15:2 (1989), pp. 193-196 The Evidence of the Senses offers a highly original exposition and defense of direct realism. This book should be required reading for any professional with an interest in human cognition, but especially so for philosophers and psychologists with interests in perception and the bases of knowledge. Because of its comprehensiveness in covering the vast literature of the epistemology of perception and because of the clarity of its prose, The Evidence of the Senses should also be attractive to instructors looking for a text for graduate or upper-level undergraduate courses. The major theses of Part I of Kelley’s book can be summarized as follows: Perception is a direct, preconceptual, non-inferential mode of awareness of physical objects and their properties. A chapter or two is devoted to detailed expositions and defenses of each of this statement's constituent theses. Chapter 1 lays out the basic assumptions of Kelley's realism, his main arguments for the directness of perception, and his polemic against the basic assumptions and arguments of its rivals, representationalism and idealism. The chapter is more historical than the rest, discussing the major sources of the contemporary debate: Descartes’ representationalism (10-16), Kant’s idealism (16-27), and the traditional “mirror of nature”1 realisms. Chapter 1 is also the heart of the book, for it is here that Kelley sets the tone for what follows by laying out his guiding principles. -
Tovlnoffil-I3E,St
E News of Significance APRIL, 19E8 Leonard Peikoff wiLt speak at the Ford Ha11 Forun in Boston on April 24. IIis topic will be "Why Should One Act on Principle?" For further informationr contact the Ford Hall Forum at (617) 338-5350. A workshop and reception for canpus club members and other students will be held in Boston on Saturday, April 23, the day before the Ford Ha11 Forum. This event is organized and conducted by Kathy Kroeger, ARI Canpus Club Field Representative, and Don Heath, head of ABI's camPus club committee. For detailsf contact Kathy at (313) 747-9805. Second Renaissance Books and The Intellectual Activist will hoet an infornal social gathering in Boston on Sunday, April 24. Tine: 1-4 p.m. Place: the Reflections Room, Holiday fnn at the Government Centerr 5 Blossom St. at Cambridge St. Books and other literature from Second Renaissance will be available for sale beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the same location. Debate at Yale: On April 27 , Harry Binswanger and John Ridpath are tentatively scheduled to debate at Yale University against oPponents to be announced. The toplc: nCapltalisn vs. Socialisn: Which is the lloral System?n The event is co- sponsored by the Objecttvist Study Group, the Denocratic SocialisU Alliance, and the Yale Political Union. For detailsr contact Arthur Rubin (of the O.S.G.) at (203) 435-0450 or Kathy Kroeger at (313) 747-9805. The Binswanger/Ridpath debate team vas in action on March 31 at Indiana U. in B1oomington. The debate, on 'Capitalism vs. The Mixed Econony: Which is the Moral Systen?n uas co-sponsored by the I.U. -
Running Head: LIBERTARIAN SOCIALISM: the FUTURE of AMERICA 1
Running head: LIBERTARIAN SOCIALISM: THE FUTURE OF AMERICA 1 Libertarian Socialism: The Future Of America Kenneth Rhee Diablo Valley College LIBERTARIAN SOCIALISM: THE FUTURE OF AMERICA 2 Abstract In the book, Government In The Future, Noam Chomsky says that currently the government of the United States seems like that of a state capitalism. At first, the United States pursued the classical liberalistic government. As time passed, US government lost its directions, and ended up as state capitalism. However, Chomsky urges that the U.S. government should be changed toward libertarian socialism. After World War II, the United States has become the most powerful country in the world, but capitalists also have gained power. Chomsky warned this to the public in the United States, and suggests libertarian socialism as the right idea for the future of America. This paper reflects research using various books and articles regarding the pros and cons of four different political theories, as well as research on the result of political compass and its application in explaining the reasons for Chomsky’s suggestion. LIBERTARIAN SOCIALISM: THE FUTURE OF AMERICA 3 Introduction According to the result of political compass test, my political personality is libertarian socialism (The Political Compass, 2015). Libertarian socialism is a combination of anarchism and socialism. When it comes to anarchism, since capitalism's early beginnings in Europe, and it's authoritarian trend of wage-slavery for the majority of people by elite capitalists, there was a libertarian movement in response to capitalism known as "Socialism". In every case, the socialist movement has been divided into authoritarian and libertarian. -
Carlin Romano on Ayn Rand
Reason Papers Vol. 34, no. 2 Afterwords America the Philosophical: Carlin Romano on Ayn Rand Stephen Hicks Rockford College Over the years I’ve enjoyed and learned from many of Carlin Romano’s articles in The Chronicle of Higher Education. He can do good philosophical reporting. So I picked up his latest book, America the Philosophical, and I was disappointed.1 Romano’s thesis is that the United States is a nation of vigorous philosophical activity and—contrary to the critics who portray it as an intellectual wasteland of complacency and platitudes—a culture that takes philosophy seriously. It’s a great topic, and I agree with Romano’s thesis. First impressions matter, however, and the first section of America the Philosophical I read was the eight pages on philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand, a case study in how not to write about other philosophers (pp. 359-66). Here’s how to write a book about other philosophers: (1) Present their positions. (2) At least sketch the arguments for the positions they take. (3) Criticize those positions when necessary by making counter- arguments. Here’s how not to write about other philosophers: (4) Ignore the academic literature about the philosopher and use only critical remarks gleaned from amateurs or non-philosopher professionals. (5) Focus more on gossip about the philosopher’s person rather than the person’s philosophy. (6) Identify the philosopher’s views in passing with those of contemporary politicians whom you despise. 1 Carlin Romano, America the Philosophical (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012). Reason Papers 34, no. 2 (October 2012): 245-247. -
ANDREW JASON COHEN Associate Professor of Philosophy
Curriculum Vitae, October 2018 ANDREW JASON COHEN Associate Professor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University [email protected] PO Box 3994 Atlanta, GA 30302-3994 Web: andrewjasoncohen.academia.edu EDUCATION Georgetown University Ph.D., Philosophy (1997) M.A., Philosophy (1994) Emory University B.A., Economics and Philosophy (1989) ACADEMIC POSITIONS HELD Founding Coordinator, Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (2016-present) Affiliate Faculty Member of the Center for Access to Justice of GSU College of Law (2018-present) Affiliate Faculty Member of the Jean Beer Blumenfeld Center for Ethics (2005-present) Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy (2008-present) Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia (Assistant Professor 2005-2008) Visiting Professor of Ethics, McDonough School of Business Georgetown University, Washington, DC (Fall 2015) Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy and Religion James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia (2000-2005) Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (1997-2000) AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION Social and Political Philosophy AREAS OF COMPETENCE Philosophy of Law; Philosophy of Economics; Business Ethics; Criminal Justice Ethics; Medical Ethics; Environmental Ethics; Normative Ethical Theory; History of Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy; Existentialism; Free Will; Philosophy of Religion PUBLICATIONS: MONOGRAPHS Toleration and Freedom from Harm: Liberalism Reconceived. NY: Routledge, 2018. Reviewed by Peter de Marneffe on Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 4/3/2018 (http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/toleration-and-freedom-from-harm-liberalism-reconceived/) Discussion on Pea Soup’s NDPR Discussion Forum (http://peasoup.us/2018/05/ndpr-forum- on-andrew-j-cohens-toleration-and-freedom-from-harm/).