Ayn Rand & Objectivism

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…

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…

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…

Celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of Ayn Rand's magnum opus (which was published on October 10, 1957) by examining key aspects of the book's artistic elements. Focusing on Rand's dramatization of the plot-theme, her use of literary techniques, and the nature and significance of key figures in the story, Bernstein shows how Rand employed such elements to tap the full potential of this supremely conceptual art form and thus to create a thoroughly integrated novel.

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…

Jack Shafer of Slate has written a superb article on the notion of “loophole” titled “Shut Your Loophole.”(Thanks to Brad Malestein for bringing this piece to my attention.) Here’s an excerpt: Upon entering the English language in the late 16th century, the word loophole defined the narrow opening in a…

Reviews Tara Smith’s latest book, Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist, and finds it to be a welcome addition to the existing literature on the Objectivist ethics—and a sizable challenge for critics of egoism.

On March 1, 1973, eight Palestinian Black September killers stormed the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum during a send-off party for American Charges d'Affairs George C. Moore. They took Moore, U.S. Ambassador Cleo A. Noel, Jr., Belgian Charges d'Affairs Guy Eid, and two other diplomats hostage. They demanded the release…

Yesterday on NPR's radio show "Fresh Air" host Terry Gross interviewed Michael Farris, president of the fundamentalist Christian school Patrick Henry College. This regrettably named institution seeks to train home-schooled Christians to be tomorrow's leaders, "ready to reclaim the biblical principles upon which our land was founded." The interview with…

Altruism, the idea that being moral consists in self-sacrificially serving others, is accepted to some extent by almost everyone today. But no reason has ever been given as to why people should sacrifice for others. Of course, alleged reasons have been given, but not legitimate ones. So let’s consider the alleged reasons—of which there are approximately six—each of which involves a logical fallacy.