Craig Biddle's Articles
Announcements
Justice on the Web
Craig Biddle November 5, 2007
Gus Van Horn, one of the best bloggers on the Web, is leading in the final polling of the 2007 Weblog Awards in the “Best of the Top 6751–8750 Blogs” category. Gus deserves this and much more, so vote, vote, vote this year (you can vote every 24 hours), and…
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Philosophy
Mere Atheism
Craig Biddle November 5, 2007
During the question period of the otherwise unremarkable debate between Christopher Hitchens and Dinesh D’Souza on the question of “Is Christianity the Problem?” the following two questions were posed to Hitchens: 1) “What [does atheism] have to offer us as an ethics?” and 2) “What standard [of value] can you…
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Philosophy
Scrutinizing Scruton's Scrutinizing
Craig Biddle November 3, 2007
Roger Scruton challenges Ayn Rand’s concept of selfishness—by committing the very fallacy Rand identified as the cause of confusion on this issue.
Announcements, Ayn Rand & Objectivism
Lecture: 'Atlas Shrugged and Ayn Rand's Morality of Egoism'
Craig Biddle October 8, 2007
In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Atlas Shrugged, I’ll be speaking at UCLA this Thursday, October 11. What: A talk on “Atlas Shrugged and Ayn Rand’s Morality of Egoism” by Craig Biddle Where: UCLA - Los Angeles, California: Kinsey Pavillion (Knudsen) 1220B When: Thursday, October 11, 2007, 7:00pm–9:00pm Admission…
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Philosophy
Good Press for Objectivism and Atlas Shrugged
Craig Biddle September 28, 2007
There is a good article in Forbes today, titled “Atlas Shrugs Again,” by Marc Babej and Tim Pollack, focusing on the recent swell of interest in Ayn Rand’s ideas and on what it takes to “market something as amorphous as a [philosophical] movement.” After citing some of the recent items…
Philosophy, Politics & Rights
More on Ahmadinejad's Forum at Columbia
Craig Biddle September 24, 2007
In case the relativist “principle” guiding Lee Bollinger’s choice to invite Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia was not clear enough in his earlier statement, here is a brief video of him making it even clearer. The “principle” is that anyone willing to “debate”—regardless of his complicity in the torture and…
Philosophy, Politics & Rights
Religion and Relativism: The Axis of Evil (Exhibit 723-B: Ahmadinejad's Visit)
Craig Biddle September 21, 2007
That the Bush administration is permitting Ahmadinejad to enter America for any reason other than to kill him on sight is a moral travesty. But, then, given that Bush and company’s philosophy counsels us to “resist not evil” and “turn the other cheek” and “judge not that ye be not…
Announcements
Fall Issue of TOS Now Online
Craig Biddle September 21, 2007
The online version of the Fall issue has been posted to our website. In connection with all the press surrounding the fiftieth anniversary of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged—from the New York Times article “Ayn Rand's Literature of Capitalism,” to the Los Angeles Times piece “Ayn Rand's Epic Storytelling,” to Lionsgate’s…
Economics
The Economics and Ethics of Moneylending
Craig Biddle September 19, 2007
In connection with Yaron Brook’s essay “The Morality of Moneylending,” Edward Glaeser’s NY Sun op-ed “Vilifying Lenders” is a hopeful sign. Glaeser makes some good points: Not so long ago, banks were routinely vilified for not lending to the less fortunate. Over the past 15 years, a revolution in credit…
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Philosophy
Journalistic Jabberwocky: The Classificatory Nonsense of Kay S. Hymowitz
Craig Biddle September 16, 2007
In an article titled “Freedom Fetishists: The Cultural Contradictions of Libertarianism”— which has been published in both Commentary and the Wall Street Journal—Kay S. Hymowitz has labeled Ayn Rand a “libertarian.” This would be unworthy of comment were it not for the fact that, as Rand herself put it, “the…
Announcements, Science & Technology
Exploit the Earth or Die
Craig Biddle August 30, 2007
Exploit the Earth or die. It’s not a threat. It’s a fact. Either man takes the Earth’s raw materials—such as trees, petroleum, aluminum, and atoms—and transforms them into the requirements of his life, or he dies. To live, man must produce the goods on which his life depends; he must…
Philosophy, Politics & Rights
Regarding the Economic Costs of my Proposed Campaign against Iran
Craig Biddle August 25, 2007
Dear Craig, Thank you for this article on your blog, which I very much enjoyed, especially your "Mafia hitmen" analogy. In your article, you state "The way to accomplish [Iran's defeat] is by waging a massive bombing campaign from high altitude and long distance—and by sustaining this campaign until the…
Philosophy, Politics & Rights
The Bush Administration's Latest Deadly Evasion
Craig Biddle August 23, 2007
The Bush administration’s plan to declare Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization is worse than a waste of time: It is an outright evasion of the Iranian assault on America. There is a good reason why the New York City Police Department does not make official pronouncements to the…
Announcements
From the Editor, Fall 2007
Craig Biddle August 20, 2007
Craig Biddle introduces the Fall 2007 issue.
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Philosophy
Mediocrities Hold Their Ground
Craig Biddle July 30, 2007
After the avowedly mediocre philosopher Steve Gimbel launched an envious attack on human excellence in general and Ayn Rand in particular—in which he pricelessly attempts to intimidate those who revere excellence into revering mediocrity instead—he and some mediocre followers found themselves engaged with a few Objectivists whereupon they further demonstrated…