Objectivism

Toohey’s five strategies of altruism

The ethics of altruism [from the Latin, alter-ism or other-ism] holds that others are the standard of value. One is good to the extent one puts the interests of others first, acts to achieve their interests, and, when necessary, sacrifices one’s interests for their sake. In The Fountainhead, Ellsworth Toohey is the major strategist of […]

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“Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand” now online

My essay “Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand” is a 43-page study published in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies (2009). Text version. Audiobook version: Part One, Part Two. The abstract: “Philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand are often identified as strong critics of altruism and arch advocates of egoism. In this essay, Stephen Hicks argues

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Christianity: Good or Bad for Mankind? Bernstein and D’Souza

A debate from 2014, I believe, between Andrew Bernstein and Dinesh D’Souza, hosted at the University of Texas. Arguments about religion typically fall into three categories: 1. Philosophical arguments about supernaturalism, faith and reason, the source of morality, and so on.2. Scriptural arguments about passages in the religion’s core texts.3. Historical arguments about the record

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When philosophers boycotted Nietzsche at Basel

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

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TODAY: “Sanction of the Victim” with Stephen Hicks and David Kelley

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

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Tara Smith, “Objective Law” [Atlas Intellectuals]

In this week of the self-paced course on Objectivity we feature Tara Smith’s “Objective Law”. Smith (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University) is professor of philosophy at the University of Texas and author of Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Our Executive Summary gives eight key points from Smith’s 13-page article. The full course

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Ayn Rand y la ética empresarial contemporánea

Stephen R. C. Hicks Traducido al español por Fermín Elizalde. Artículo original en inglés y Kindle. Introducción: los negocios y la sociedad libre Los defensores de la sociedad libre piensan en los negocios como una parte integral de la sociedad dinámica y progresista que defienden. En Occidente, el surgimiento de una cultura hospitalaria para los

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