Enlightenment is man’s release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man’s inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another . . . "Dare to think! Have the courage to use your own reason!" is therefore the motto of the Enlightenment.
Friday, June 24, 2022
Guessing Game
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Objectivist Roundup, June 2022
1. Spanish philosopher Luca Moratal Romeu has a 415 page book on Ayn Rand’s political philosophy. The book is $37. I can read Spanish but, unfortunately, there is no Amazon preview so I don’t think I’ll be purchasing it.
2. ARI philosophers Onkar Ghate and Mike Mazza discuss criticisms of Ayn Rand by professional philosophers Sidney Hook and Robert Nozick. I can’t find Hook’s review of For the New Intellectual on the web, but my recollection was that much of his criticism was focused on Rand’s caricature of the history of philosophy in the book’s introductory essay.
3. OCON 2022 kicks off next month. Some of the talks look interesting, but when I saw that future Rand biographer Shoshana Milgram was speaking, I checked the speaker’s section. Apparently, she is still working on her biography, which will only go to 1957. I wonder if the book will ever be published. If so, it likely won’t be authorized as previously promised.
Sunday, May 08, 2022
Objectivist Roundup, May 2022
1. A Companion to Ayn Rand (2018) is now out in a more reasonably priced paperback edition. Although all the contributors are associated with the ARI, the essays are in general valuable, albeit not particularly critical. What I found most interesting is that Greg Salmieri acknowledged that the editing of Rand’s posthumously published writings (such as her Journals and Question and Answers) leaves something to be desired.
2. The ARI’s recent “Of Schisms” essays has received criticism from two of its targets, Robert Tracisnki and Craig Biddle They challenge the essay’s description of their schisms.
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Objectivist Schisms: an Overview by Neil Parille
As observers of Objectivism know, schisms are a perennial part of the world of Objectivism. In particular, the “official Objectivism” going back to Ayn Rand, which has continued into today with the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), has been particularly prone to dust-ups, breaks, and even excommunications. I don’t know of any sociological studies of schisms that might shed light on this, but there may be a couple reasons. First, Objectivism is a relatively small movement, and most people tend to know each other. This means that disputes will tend to become personal. Second, many associates of Ayn Rand are still alive. Hence protecting her legacy in their eyes likely heightens the gravity of any disputes.
The biggest schism in the Objectivist movement was Ayn Rand’s break in 1968 with Nathaniel and Barbara Branden. The Brandens were the chief promoters of Objectivism, particularly through the Nathaniel Branden Institute. While the details remain somewhat obscure, the rupture began because Nathaniel and Rand had years earlier commenced an affair which eventually grew cold. When Rand wanted to restart the affair, the much younger Branden balked at this, in large part because he was having an affair with a beautiful young model and actress, which he concealed from Rand for years. When Rand found out about his affair, she denounced Nathaniel in her own inimitable way. In her “To Whom It May Concern Statement,” she never mentioned that she and Branden had an affair, nor Branden’s clandestine affair with the model. She went on to denounce him for failing to devote his efforts to advance Objectivism and she all but accused him of stealing from her. She did hint that Nathaniel had betrayed her in an unspecified way:
This year, in a long series of discussions, held at his request to help him solve what he characterized as his psycho-epistemological problems, I was shocked to discover that he was consistently failing to apply to his own personal life and conduct, not only the fundamental philosophical principles of Objectivism, but also the psychological principles he himself had enunciated and had written and lectured about. For example: he was unable or unwilling to identify the motivation of some of his actions or the nature of his long-range goals; he admitted that in many respects he was acting on the basis of unidentified feelings.
As Nathaniel later wrote in his memoir, Rand’s attack was so “over the top” that people suspected that he was an alcoholic or a child molester. Both Nathaniel and Barbara responded, countering Rand’s allegations of wrongdoing. Nathaniel hinted that there had been an affair and conceded that he concealed something important of Rand. He explicitly denied her allegations of financial wrongdoing.
After the Branden split, there were other schisms during Rand’s life. After her death, Leonard Peikoff, Rand’s self-proclaimed “intellectual heir,” started the ARI. Peikoff shortly thereafter split with philosopher David Kelley over Kelley’s contention that Objectivism was an “open system.” Peikoff’s denunciation, in which he purported to speak for Rand, was vitriolic. More splits, generally of a lesser significance, have continue until the present.
Monday, March 07, 2022
Taking Ideas Seriously
Monday, January 24, 2022
Objectivism on Christianity and Religion
Ayn Rand and her followers have a bee in their bonnet when it comes to religion. In particular, contemporary Objectivists often fret about the influence on the Religious Right on politics. It doesn’t appear, however, that they have spent much time studying the topic of religion because the same old chestnuts keep popping up again and again..