Scholar Bio
Harry Binswanger received his doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University in 1973 and has taught philosophy at Hunter College, the New School for Social Research and the University of Texas at Austin. Since 1994 he has taught courses on Ayn Rand’s philosophic system, ethics and epistemology at the Objectivist Academic Center.
Dr. Binswanger is the author of How We Know, a book on the theory of knowledge. His previous books are The Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts and The Ayn Rand Lexicon. He is coeditor of the second expanded edition of Ayn Rand’s Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology.
He is a regular speaker at universities on Ayn Rand’s philosophy. A senior contributor at RealClearMarkets, he has also appeared on TV shows hosted by Glenn Beck, Geraldo Rivera and Judge Anthony Napolitano, as well as in two documentary films about Ayn Rand. He also moderates and writes for an email list on Objectivism and its application to today’s issues at www.hbletter.com.
He has been a member of the Ayn Rand Institute’s board of directors since the organization’s inception. In Ayn Rand’s last years, Dr. Binswanger became her associate and friend.
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Courses Taught
Philosophy of Math | 2024
Mathematics is the arch-example of the absolutism of logic and the power of reason. “The proper epistemological ideal,” Ayn Rand once said, “is to have your knowledge in as precise a form as mathematics. Or...
Objectivist Logic | 2024
Ayn Rand embraced Aristotelian logic but took it much further. This course, through lectures and homework exercises, reviews the three most important ideas of Aristotelian logic and then focuses on the new principles of proper...
Perception
Topics include perception as the inerrant foundation of the conceptual faculty and of conceptual knowledge; the question of the validity of the senses; presentationalism vs. representationalism; the three skeptical attacks on perception; sensations and perception;...
ITOE, Advanced Topics
2524.9675“ITOE, Advanced Topics” is an intensive study of Rand’s theory of knowledge covering the later material in Ayn Rand’s Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology: Leonard Peikoff’s essay “The Analytic-Synthetic Dichotomy” and the Appendix to the second edition....
Objectivist Logic
Ayn Rand embraced Aristotelian logic but took it much further. This course, through lectures and homework exercises, reviews the three most important ideas of Aristotelian logic and then focuses on the new principles of proper...
John Locke’s Political Philosophy
More than any other Enlightenment thinker, John Locke was responsible for the creation of the United States. His thoughts on the nature of human knowledge, individual rights, and the sacred value of free thought against...
Logic: The Cashing-In
Concepts, though fundamental, are only tools—only means to an end. The end is the practical, productive, rational use of your mind to achieve your values, secure your survival, and enhance your life. That is the...
Graduate Seminar on Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology
In this Summer 2021 seminar, graduate students and young professionals in philosophy examine the best secondary literature on Ayn Rand's epistemology, and do an intensive chapter-by-chapter reading of her Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology.
This course is...
Subtitled
Exploring Objectivism:
The Philosophy of Ayn Rand
Available with Spanish subtitles!
¡Disponible con subtítulos en español!
If you have ever wondered what philosophy is and how ideas shape human life, this course is for you. Join Gloria Álvarez as she interviews Ayn Rand Institute...
Ayn Rand’s Life: Highlights and Sidelights
Ayn Rand embodied three extraordinary qualities: philosophic genius, heroic rationality and passionate man-worship. The result was the outstanding figure of the modern era—perhaps, of any era.
These two lectures portray the essence of a world-historical figure...
Concepts and Propositions
Ayn Rand’s theory of concepts is revolutionary in the field of philosophy and it forms the backbone of the Objectivist theory of knowledge. In this course, given at Objectivist Summer Conference 2017 (OCON), Harry Binswanger...
Psycho-Epistemology I
Ayn Rand defined psycho-epistemology as “the study of man’s cognitive processes from the aspect of the interaction between the conscious mind and the automatic functions of the subconscious.”
In these illuminating lectures on this new science, Harry...
Psycho-Epistemology II
Ayn Rand defined psycho-epistemology as “the study of man’s cognitive processes from the aspect of the interaction between the conscious mind and the automatic functions of the subconscious.”
In these lectures extending material presented in “Psycho-Epistemology I”,...
Logic: The Method of Reason
Atlas Shrugged has been aptly described as “a hymn to logic.” But today, logic textbooks contain only sterile, formalistic diversions from real-life issues. In this course, given at Objectivist Summer Conference 2018 (OCON), Harry Binswanger...
The Foundations of Knowledge
What is knowledge? What does it depend upon? What are the means of acquiring it? In this course, given at Objectivist Summer Conference 2016 (OCON), Harry Binswanger answers these questions and, in doing so, explains...
Subtitled
Individualism in an Age of Tribalism
Available with Spanish subtitles!
¡Disponible con subtítulos en español!
Increasingly, our culture pushes us to view ourselves as passive members of one group or another. What matters, we’re told, is not the choices we make as individuals,...
Experience
Board Member
- Board of DirectorsAyn Rand Institute1985 – present
Editor And Publisher
- The Objectivist Forum1980 – 1987
Teacher Of Philosophy
- Hunter College1972 – 1979
- The New School for Social Research1971 – 1977
- University of Texas, AustinSpring 2002
Selected Work
Articles & Essays
- Review of Leonard Peikoff’s Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand in The Intellectual Activist (November 1991)
- “What Is Objective Law?” in The Intellectual Activist (January 1992)
- Review of Ayn Rand’s The Voice of Reason in The Intellectual Activist (December 1988)
Scholarly Articles
- “Life-Based Teleology and the Foundation of Value” in The Monist (January 1992)
- “Volition as Cognitive Self-Regulation” in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (December 1991)
- “Objectivist Philosophy of Law” (with Thomas Bowden), in The Philosophy of Law: An Encyclopedia (1999)
Talks & Lectures
- “Ayn Rand’s Philosophic Achievement”
- “Consciousness as Identification”
- “The Metaphysics of Consciousness”
- “Consciousness: Foundations of a Rational Theory”
- “Perception”
- “Selected Topics in the Philosophy of Science”
- “Abstraction from Abstractions”
- “Psycho-Epistemology I”
- “Psycho-Epistemology II”
- “Free Will”
- “Free Will and Values”
- “Emotions”
- “Logical Thinking”
- “Philosophic Issues in Economics”
- “Ayn Rand’s Life: Highlights and Sidelights”
- “Principles”
Book Chapters
- “The Dollar and the Gun” in Why Businessmen Need Philosophy: The Capitalist’s Guide to the Ideas Behind Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” (2011)
- “Philosophy: The Ultimate CEO” in Why Businessmen Need Philosophy: The Capitalist’s Guide to the Ideas Behind Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” (2011)
- “Anthem: An Appreciation” in Essays on Ayn Rand’s “Anthem”(2005)
- “A Tale of Two Novels in Atlas Shrugged” in Essays on Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” (2009)
- “Antitrust: ‘Free Competition’ at Gunpoint” in The Abolition of Antitrust (2005)
