Volume 12, No. 1 – July 2012 (Issue #23)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
THE JOURNAL OF AYN RAND STUDIES: THE BEST IS YET TO COME, pp. 1-3
Since 1999, The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies (JARS) has published over 250 essays, written by over 130 authors, working across scholarly disciplines and specialties. Starting in 2013, with Volume 13, Number 1 (Issue 25), the JARS Foundation will begin a collaboration with Pennsylvania State University Press (PSUP). PSUP will manage distribution and subscription fulfillment for print and online editions, while the Editorial Board will focus exclusively on journal content. Extensive digital dissemination and preservation of the journal is guaranteed through PSUP partnerships with JSTOR and Project Muse, and the dark archiving of all journal back issues at Stanford’s CLOCKSS.
THE LOGIC OF LIBERTY: ARISTOTLE, AYN RAND, AND THE LOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM, pp. 5-75
Analyzing various false alternatives using a technique based on Aristotle’s Law of Excluded Middle, the author shows how a system of individual rights and laissez-faire capitalism relates logically to other politico-economic systems and ideologies. He gives special attention to Nolan’s two-dimensional diagram of the political spectrum, Rand’s critique of conservatism and liberalism, and Rothbard’s work on the historical phenomenon of Salutary Neglect and its relationship to fascism, socialism, and laissez-faire. The author also assesses current prospects for liberty, as reflected in such policies as Obamacare and education vouchers.
AYN RAND SHRUGGED: THE GAP BETWEEN ETHICAL EGOISM AND GLOBAL CAPITALISM, pp. 77-116
There is a gap between Rand’s ethical egoism and today’s global capitalism on at least six points. Since her version of “capitalism: the unknown ideal” addresses none of these points, it cannot resemble the reality of today’s global capitalism. The connection between Objectivist ethics and politics is preserved by a possible change in her minarchical political philosophy. This will mean that there is no necessary connection between ethical egoism and minarchism or between ethical egoism and minimal government intervention. An ethically hard Objectivism determining the (less) unknown ideal of capitalism leaves room for a politically soft Objectivism.
A DEFENSE OF ROTHBARDIAN ETHICS VIA A MEDIATION OF HOPPE AND RAND, pp. 117-50
This paper will provide Murray. N. Rothbard’s “ethics of liberty” with a greater theoretical cogency and ultimately validate its natural law underpinnings. This can be achieved via a mediation of Hans- Herrmann Hoppe’s praxeological argumentation ethics and Ayn Rand’s Objectivist teleological/Objectivist theory of ethics. Synthesizing these two disparate schools of epistemology provides a metaethic or praxeological/Objectivist epistemology that considerably strengthens and ultimately validates the central axioms of the Rothbardian natural law project on both rational and moral grounds.
AYN RAND AND DEDUCING ‘OUGHT’ FROM ‘IS’, pp. 151-68
Under R.M Hare’s interpretation of David Hume’s is-ought gap, Hume thought it impossible to deduce an ‘ought’ conclusion, solely from ‘is’ premises. Ayn Rand rejects this view. In this paper, we see both how and why she attempted to deduce such an ‘ought’ conclusion in her ethical theory.
THE CHILDS-PEIKOFF HYPOTHESIS, pp. 169-78
In his infamous “Open Letter to Ayn Rand,” Roy Childs, a prominent libertarian advocate of anarcho-capitalism, argued that limited government is inconsistent with Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. In the early 1980s, Childs changed his mind and rejected anarcho-capitalism as a rational political system. Despite a brief, unfinished, posthumous essay, some say that the real reasons for Child’s change of heart will always remain a mystery. However, specific comments by Childs in that essay point directly to the influence of a series of lectures on Objectivism presented by Leonard Peikoff in 1983.
CONTRIBUTOR BIOGRAPHIES
Roger E. Bissell is a professional musician and a writer on philosophy and psychology, specializing in aesthetics, logic and epistemology, and personality type theory. His work has appeared in a number of other publications, including Reason Papers, Objectivity, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vera Lex, and ART Ideas. His mock transcription of a lecture by the fictional composer Richard Halley was published in Edward W. Younkins’s 2007 compilation, Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”: A Philosophical and Literary Companion, and he supervised the transcription of Nathaniel Branden’s lectures for the 2009 publication of The Vision of Ayn Rand: The Basic Principles of Objectivism. Most recently, he published his first book, How the Martians Discovered Algebra: Explorations in Induction and the Philosophy of Mathematics, available from Amazon Kindle. He also frequently performs on recording sessions and jazz engagements, and his CDs feature his trombone playing, singing, musical arrangements, and original compositions.
Andre Santos Campos is an Assistant Professor and Research Fellow, The Philosophy of Language Institute, New University of Lisbon, holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Lisbon. His research interests include the early modern period, theoretical ethics, political philosophy and contemporary legal theory, on which he has published scholarly papers in such journals as Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, Philosophical Frontiers, and Philosophica. Recent publications include Jus sive Potentia (CFUL, 2010) and Spinoza’s Revolutions in Natural Law (Palgrave MacMillan, 2012).
Lachlan Doughney, Philosophy Department, Latrobe University, Australia, VIC 3086, is a Ph.D. student and tutor at La Trobe University, in Melbourne, Australia. His research interests include the metaphysics of attention, the philosophy of mind, and metaethics.
Dennis C. Hardin is an Objectivist writer and psychotherapist. From 1987 to 1990, he was the co-leader of a popular Los Angeles discussion group: The Forum For The New Intellectual. In 2002, he created and presented his own self-help seminar, “The Ethics of Personal Achievement.” He is the author of the novel, The Living Image.
Chris Matthew Sciabarra received his Ph.D., with distinction, in political theory, philosophy, and methodology from New York University. He is the author of the “Dialectics and Liberty Trilogy,” which includes Marx, Hayek, and Utopia (State University of New York Press, 1995), Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995; expanded second edition, 2013), and Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000). He is also coeditor, with Mimi Reisel Gladstein, of Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999), and a founding coeditor of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies (1999–present). He has written over a dozen encyclopedia entries dealing with Objectivism and libertarianism, given over 50 interviews published in such periodicals as The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Village Voice, and The Economist, and published over 150 essays, which have appeared in publications as diverse as Critical Review, Reason Papers, Liberty, Reason, The New York Daily News, Film Score Monthly, Jazz Times, Just Jazz Guitar, and Billboard.
Cade Share has a Bachelor of Business and a Masters of International Politics from the University of South Australia. He currently resides in Adelaide, South Australia. His research interests include: anarcho-capitalism and spontaneous order; the mediation of Objectivist ethics with the non-normative science of praxeology; and state-sponsored terrorism and the Hegelian dialectic. He thanks his brother Luc Share for the stimulating debate and shared interests that continue to inspire his anti-statist and libertarian ideals.
Volume 12, No. 2 – December 2012 (Issue #24)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
This issue is dedicated to Mr. Frank Bubb who contributed to this journal in 2006.
PREFACE
EXPANDING BOARDS, EXPANDING HORIZONS, pp. 183-91
Beginning in 2013, Pennsylvania State University Press will manage design, production, distribution, and subscription fulfillment, in both print and online editions, of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. This enterprise requires an expansion of the journal’s editorial and advisory boards. The Editorial Board‚ Stephen Cox, Roderick Long, and Chris Sciabarra‚ welcomes Robert Campbell, while the Board of Advisors welcomes six new members, reflecting its growing interdisciplinary and global reach: David Beito, Peter Boettke, Susan Love Brown, Hannes Gissurarson, Steven Horwitz, and David Mayer, who join founding board members Douglas Den Uyl, Mimi Gladstein, Robert Hessen, Lester Hunt, Eric Mack, and Douglas Rasmussen.
SEX AND THE EGOIST: MEASURING AYN RAND’S FICTION AGAINST HER PHILOSOPHY, pp. 193-206
The merit of Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophy is often based on its economic and social tenets surrounding individual rights. Though she is often neglected by feminists, there is one aspect of Rand’s fiction and philosophy that requires feminist attention: her illustration of female sexuality in response to masculinity and hero worship. In The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957), Rand respectively presents her ideal man and the ideal manner in which a woman would respond to such a man. These actions necessarily conflict with what Rand claims is a rational ethical theory and detract from Rand’s otherwise gender neutral philosophy.
TAKING PIECES OF RAND WITH THEM: AYN RAND’S LITERARY INFLUENCE, pp. 207-35
Despite the fact that Ayn Rand did not influence the best artists, she did leave an important legacy for the American imagination and literary establishment. Rand’s influence is arguably more multi-genre than any other author. Some multi-genre authors who were possibly influenced by Rand include: John Steinbeck (literature), Mickey Spillane and Ian Fleming (detective fiction), Ira Levin, Cameron Hawley, Erika Holzer and Kay Nolte Smith (popular fiction) and Terry Goodkind (science fiction). Her influence represents an important balance between many various types of American Literature and is a credit to the hybrid and versatile nature of her fiction.
AYN RAND’S OBJECTIVIST VIRTUES AS THE FOUNDATION FOR MORALITY AND SUCCESS IN BUSINESS, pp. 237-62
This article contends that Ayn Rand’s version of virtue ethics can supply a powerful foundation for operating a successful business. Rand’s Objectivist virtues can provide an underpinning for a firm’s long-term sustainable success, as well as for the flourishing and happiness of its employees. In order to attain a company’s goals, values, and purpose, these virtues need to be integrated with the firm’s culture and climate. The Objectivist virtues can supply an integrated framework for employees’ decisions and actions. Leaders are encouraged to link these virtues to the survival and success of both the firm and its employees.
PRIVATE WAR: OBJECTIVIST POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY AND THE PRIVATIZATION OF MILITARY FORCE, pp. 263-77
This article focuses on the recent work of James Pattison, who raises questions about the ethical justification of using private military forces in waging war. Objectivists argue that the State has a legal monopoly over the use of force; they reject privatization of military force as leading to anarchism or crony capitalism. However, this essay argues that Objectivism should accept the privatization of the military business and that Objectivism can overcome the profit-motive and right intention objections that Pattison lays out. Privatization entails neither anarchism nor crony capitalism.
REVIEWS
AYN RAND NATION, pp. 279-82
In his book, Ayn Rand Nation, Gary Weiss provides a journalistic critique of Ayn Rand and the influence of her followers. It is a valuable piece of reporting. His conclusions about her philosophy and influence, however, should be used with some caution.
MASTER AUTHOR INDEX TO VOLUMES 1-12 (ISSUES 1-24), pp. 289-315
A PDF of the revised version of this Master Author Index
CONTRIBUTOR BIOGRAPHIES
Roger E. Bissell is a professional musician and a writer on philosophy and psychology, specializing in aesthetics, logic and epistemology, and personality type theory. His work has appeared in a number of other publications, including Reason Papers, Objectivity, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vera Lex, and ART Ideas. His mock transcription of a lecture by the fictional composer Richard Halley was published in Edward W. Younkins’s 2007 compilation, Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”: A Philosophical and Literary Companion, and he supervised the transcription of Nathaniel Branden’s lectures for the 2009 publication of The Vision of Ayn Rand: The Basic Principles of Objectivism. Most recently, he published his first book, How the Martians Discovered Algebra: Explorations in Induction and the Philosophy of Mathematics, available from Amazon Kindle. He also frequently performs on recording sessions and jazz engagements, and his CDs feature his trombone playing, singing, musical arrangements, and original compositions.
Emily J. Barr has a Masters of English language and literature from Central Michigan University. She currently resides in the greater Metro Detroit area. Her current research interests include: 20th Century American literature authored by women, feminist theory, postmodern theory, and dystopian literature.
Neil Parille is an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Connecticut. The views expressed are his own.
Robert Powell, Doctor of Philosophy with a degree in English from Florida State University, is previously published in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies (Volume 10, Number 2, Issue 20, Spring 2009: Symposium on Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand). He is an Assistant Professor of English at Alabama A&M University in Normal, Alabama. His dissertation is entitled Ayn Rand’s Heroes: Between and Beyond Good and Evil.
Chris Matthew Sciabarra received his Ph.D., with distinction, in political theory, philosophy, and methodology from New York University. He is the author of the “Dialectics and Liberty Trilogy,” which includes Marx, Hayek, and Utopia (State University of New York Press, 1995), Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995; expanded second edition, 2013), and Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000). He is also coeditor, with Mimi Reisel Gladstein, of Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999), and a founding coeditor of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies (1999–present). He has written over a dozen encyclopedia entries dealing with Objectivism and libertarianism, given over 50 interviews published in such periodicals as The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Village Voice, and The Economist, and published over 150 essays, which have appeared in publications as diverse as Critical Review, Reason Papers, Liberty, Reason, The New York Daily News, Film Score Monthly, Jazz Times, Just Jazz Guitar, and Billboard.
Martin Van Wetten is a student at the University of Turku located in Southwest Finland. He is majoring in philosophy and minoring in English philology, with additional interest in the Romance languages. His interest in philosophy centers on practical philosophy, ethics, and political philosophy. He will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Spring 2013 and a Master of Political Sciences in Spring 2014.
Edward W. Younkins, Professor, Department of Business, Wheeling Jesuit University, 316 Washington Avenue, Wheeling, West Virginia, 26003. He is the author of numerous articles in accounting and business journals. In addition, his many free-market-oriented articles and reviews have appeared in a variety of publications. He is the author of Capitalism and Commerce: Conceptual Foundations of Free Enterprise (Lexington Books, 2002) and Champions of a Free Society: Ideas of Capitalism’s Philosophers and Economists (Lexington Books, 2008). He is the editor of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”: A Philosophical and Literary Companion (Ashgate, 2007). His newest two books are Flourishing and Happiness in a Free Society: Toward a Synthesis of Aristotelianism, Austrian Economics, and Ayn Rand’s Objectivism (University Press of America, 2011) and Exploring Capitalist Fiction: Business through Literature and Film (Lexington Books, 2014).
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