Ayn Rand

Seminar: Philosophy and the Evolution of the Mixed Economy

2 Comments / History of Philosophy, Literature, Philosophy /

One of my talks at Francisco Marroquín University was on making sense of our mixed economy–an unwieldy combination of market and socialist elements. The 28-minute talk integrates themes from my intellectual heroes–Smith, Mill, Mises, Hayek, Rand, Popper, Friedman, Buchanan, and Tullock–and connects market economics, politics, ethics, history, and public choice to explaining our semi-coherent mixed […]

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My upcoming lectures at Universidad Francisco Marroquín

Leave a Comment / Economics, Philosophy, Politics /

From November 3 to 6, I will be giving an invited series of lectures and seminars (nine hours worth of them!) at the Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala. My general themes will be entrepreneurship, ethics, philosophy, and political economy. The times titles of my various talks are as follows. Open Lecture (Thursday, November 3): “Entrepreneurs

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Interview with Douglas Den Uyl on “The Essence of Capitalism”

Leave a Comment / Business Ethics, Economics, Politics /

Douglas Den Uyl spoke at Rockford College on four competing (and/or compatible?) theories of the nature of capitalism: Milton Friedman’s “Utility” account, Friedrich Hayek’s “Epistemic” account, Adam Smith’s “Aesthetic” account, and Ayn Rand’s “Self-Fulfillment” account. Here is my sixteen-minute interview with Dr. Den Uyl following his lecture: Part 1: Part 2: Cross-posted at the CEE

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Most dangerous philosophy book? (Spring 2011 edition)

1 Comment / Philosophy /

For my Introduction to Philosophy course, a question on the final exam [pdf] was: In your judgment, what is the most dangerous book we read this semester? First give a clear and sympathetic presentation of the book’s most important themes; second, state your criterion/criteria of dangerousness; finally, explain why you think the book is dangerous.

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Atlas Shrugged movie — first reaction

8 Comments / Film, Philosophy /

As someone who read and loved the book, this movie totally worked for me. Schilling’s Dagny is intelligent, emotionally expressive, and beautiful. Bowler’s Hank Rearden is equally intelligent and competent, with occasionally bemused, understated humor and equally occasionally understated anger. And the sexual chemistry between the two — yes, indeed. Wisocky is tone-perfect as that

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APEE update — Deirdre McCloskey

1 Comment / Business Ethics, Economics, Ethics, Philosophy of History /

Why did the modern economic revolution in production and trade first happen in north-western Europe? At the APEE conference, Deirdre McCloskey delivered a plenary address based on her new book, Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World. Her argument is that neither material resources nor technology nor capital accumulation nor geographical factors drove

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Hayek and Rand on values — APEE 2011 conference

Leave a Comment / Economics, Education, History of Philosophy, Objectivism, Philosophy, Politics /

For this year’s conference of the Association of Private Enterprise Education, I am organizing and chairing a session on two giants of the twentieth century — Friedrich Hayek and Ayn Rand — with four scholars comparing their views on values and political economy. Topic: Hayek and Rand on Values Chair: Stephen Hicks, Ph.D., Rockford College,

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