The poet John Enright‘s “Kant and Abstract Art” takes up Ayn Rand‘s claim (in The Romantic Manifesto) that “the father of modern art is Immanuel Kant (see his Critique of Judgment).” Rand does not elaborate, and Enright notes that some scoff at the claim. Rand’s claim is a strong one, in part because it makes […]
Kant and modern art: quotations from artists and art critics Read More »
Audio version of my 42-page journal article “Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand.” Table of Contents: Part One: On Critiquing Altruism [MP3] [YouTube] [64 minutes] Three Nietzsches and Ayn RandSome Intellectuals on Nietzsche and RandEgoism, altruism, and “selfishness”A Nietzschean sketch: * God is dead * Nihilism’s symptoms * Two bio-psychological types * Psychology and morality *
*Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand* [audio-book version] Read More »
Via Classically Liberal, reprising this intriguing connection. In a letter to his former master, Frederick Douglass explains his decision to escape from slavery: “The morality of the act, I dispose as follows: I am myself; you are yourself; we are two distinct persons, equal persons. What you are, I am. You are a man, and
Frederick Douglass and Ayn Rand Read More »
Re-reading The Fountainhead made me wonder: Is the character Gordon Prescott based on Martin Heidegger’s philosophy?
The Fountainhead’s Gordon Prescott—Heidegger’s disciple? Read More »
“Tell something to children, tell them the whole thing right to the end, and they’ll still ask: Then what? What comes next?”
“Children are the only bold philosophers. And bold philosophers will always be children.”
Zamyatin: Children as bold philosophers Read More »
This New York Times extended article (behind paywall) on Rand’s influence includes some snark from philosophers over whether she really was a philosopher. Oh, come on. It reminds me of Friedrich Nietzsche’s reception by the philosophers at the University of Basel (I haven’t come across their names in the history books) when Nietzsche assumed his
When philosophers boycotted Nietzsche at Basel Read More »
Today the Atlas Society is having Senior Scholar Stephen Hicks, Ph.D., and Atlas Society founder David Kelley, Ph.D. @ 3:30 PM PT / 6:30 PM ET for a special 90-minute exploration and discussion on Ayn Rand’s theme “the sanction of the victim” and how evil often feeds off people trying to be good. Register here: Sanction
TODAY: “Sanction of the Victim” with Stephen Hicks and David Kelley Read More »
Reprising this chart which integrates the major answers to the question: What makes liberal capitalism good? The chart diagrams the positive claims about liberal capitalism by its defenders — John Locke, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Ludwig von Mises, Ayn Rand, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, and others. For elaboration, see my book Liberalism Pro and
Justifying liberal capitalism — flowchart Read More »