1. Objectivist historian C. Bradley Thompson wrote and interesting article in which he argued that Marxism is a kind of Christian heresy. The similarities between these two ideologies have been noted occasionally, even by Christians. But the same thing could be said about Objectivism. A while ago I wrote an essay comparing ARI-style Objectivism and religion. One thing that has occurred to me over the years is that just as there is the phenomenon of six degrees of separation between people, there is a similar concept at work with ideologies. It’s easy to find parallels, but that doesn’t mean there is a direct line of influence. Anthropologists have for example found similarities between Native American religions and the religions of Australian Aborigines although direct influence is virtually impossible.
2. ARI’s Chief Philosophy Officer Onkar Ghate gave a talk, Saving the Enlightenment. According to Ghate, the Enlightenment was radically anti-religious and taught reason was the only source of knowledge. As usual, Ghate doesn’t mention any thinkers (at least prior to the Q&A, when I stopped listening). I’m not an expert on the Enlightenment, but I don’t think all or even most of the major thinkers of the Enlightenment were radically anti-religious. David Hume seemed hostile to Christianity and Kant wasn’t religious in the traditional sense (he has been described as a deist, atheist or agnostic). However, Kant’s best known writing on religion was called Religion Within the Bounds of Reason Alone. John Locke was religious and wrote at least one book defending Christianity. Henry Home, Lord Kames, while not a household name, was a leader in the Scottish Enlightenment and a Christian. I hate to pick on Ghate, but he seems to think that in depth investigation isn’t necessary when analyzing a philosophical movement.
—Neil Parille
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