Individual Rights 5: Burke contra Rand. Edmund Burke regarded with great suspicion any theory of rights which appeared founded, not on exte...

Individual Rights 4: Paper Rights. “Politics,” Otto Von Bismarck tells us, “is the art of the possible.” Since most people who frame theori...

Individual Rights 3: Nietzsche weighs in. While re-reading Nietzche’s Twilight of the Idols , I found old Fritz making the same point I’ve ...

So ponders the Wall Street Journal.

Individual Rights 2: Rand’s theory examined. Rand introduces her theory of individual rights as follows: The source of man’s rights is not ...

Individual Rights 1: Theory and practice. Rand tells us, in her usual ex cathedra manner, that “the right to life is the source of all rig...

"'Standard logic' this may be; Objectivism, I submit, it ain't." - Lindsay Perigo, The Free Radical Online Objectivism...

Self-interest and the Welfare State. Although David Kelley’s brand of Objectivism tends to be several notches above what we find over at ARI...

One of the most obvious signs of cultism in Objectivism is the desire for Objectivists to believe Ayn Rand was somehow a sui generis , all-...

Over at The New Criterion , Anthony Daniels fingers Rand as the "Chernyshevsky of individualism." His thoughtful critique touches ...

Altruism’s influence on politics. In Objectivism, “altruism” is serves as the primary ideological scapegoat for the ills of American politi...

In an excellent essay , Michael Huemer, one of the most rigorous critics of the Objectivist ethics, offers some alternative answers for the...

Moral argument for capitalism. In The Mind and Society , Pareto makes the following observation:
 Theories of “natural law” and the “law o...

Natural disasters and state assistance. Does the government have a role in helping people whose homes have been destroyed or severly damage...

Over at Amazon in comments on Jennifer Burns' bio we find this useful summation of how realistically Objectivists view Rand's achie...

Politics of Human Nature 21: Conclusion. What can be gathered from this long series of posts on politics and human nature? Mainly, three ma...

If Objectivism is correct, shouldn't the lines on this graph go in the opposite direction? Hat tip: Angry Bear

For nearly every critic of Objectivism there is usually one or two things in Rand’s philosophy that he finds particularly objectionable. For...

Politics of Human Nature 20: Grievance Politics. In any advanced society there will likely be a number of individuals whose political belie...

Jennifer Burns’ taut, perfectly judged new Rand bio is good news for American intellectual history and bad news for the cult wing of Objecti...