On the occasion of Harry Binswanger’s retirement from the Ayn Rand Institute’s Board of Directors, this incisive, wide-ranging anthology was produced to celebrate his sixty years of writing about and teaching the philosophy of Objectivism.
Spanning decades of intellectual work, these essays illuminate Rand’s breakthroughs in metaphysics (“Identity and Motion”), epistemology (How We Know: Epistemology on an Objectivist Foundation), ethics (“Life-Based Teleology and the Foundations of Ethics”), and politics (“The Dollar and the Gun”). Harry Binswanger’s penetrating analyses demonstrate why Rand’s defense of reason, individualism, and capitalism remains as vital today as ever.
The collection also features thought-provoking explorations of literature (“A Tale of Two Novels”), free will (“Volition as Cognitive Self-Regulation”), and cultural commentary (“It’s Time for the Community to Give Back to the Rich”).
What is the actual basis of terms such as “goal,” “function,” and “for the sake of”? Can these teleological concepts be validly applied to non-conscious biological processes such as the heartbeat, plant growth, and cellular metabolism? Does the behavior of any inanimate objects, natural or man-made, qualify as goal-directed?
To resolve these issues, Harry Binswanger provides a unique approach combining factual and epistemological considerations. If human purposeful action is the paradigm case of goal-directed action, then regarding a non-purposeful process as goal-directed means taking it to be causally similar to purposeful action. Accordingly, to determine the proper extent of teleological concepts, Binswanger provides an analysis of purposeful action and a point-by-point comparison of the features of purposeful action to those of vegetative and inanimate processes. He concludes that natural selection, in adapting actions to ends with survival value, does make all living action qualify as goal-directed, and that no inanimate process qualifies.
An appendix compares Binswanger’s views with those of Larry Wright and Andrew Woodfield.
From 1966–1971, Ayn Rand produced the monthly journal The Objectivist on the theory and application of her philosophy Objectivism. Volumes 8–10 (1969–1971) consists of the second half of the journal and covers a fascinating range of subjects, from her scathing critique of the Progressive education system in her essay “The Comprachicos” to her reverent reflection on the triumph of “Apollo 11.”
From 1966–1971, Ayn Rand produced the monthly journal The Objectivist on the theory and application of her philosophy Objectivism. Volumes 5–7 (1966–1968) consists of the first half of the journal and covers a fascinating range of subjects, from tackling the “Roots of War” to her unique perspective on “Basic Principles of Literature.”
The Objectivist Newsletter is a 224-page volume that contains penetrating, philosophical dissection of events and ideas dominating our culture. Among its contents: an elucidation of the two political issues with which the practical fight for freedom should begin; a moving tribute to Marilyn Monroe; illuminating reviews of books by authors as diverse as Victor Hugo and Mickey Spillane; and replies to questions about Objectivism in the “Intellectual Ammunition Department.”
Why did Ayn Rand say that “the pre-condition of inflation is psycho-epistemological”? What philosophical lessons did she draw from America’s disastrous involvement in Vietnam? Her superlative ability to untangle the intellectual significance of world events is displayed in full force in this 400-page volume.
The Art of Thinking was a lecture course given by Leonard Peikoff at the Objectivist summer conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1992. In the course description, Dr. Peikoff promised to “teach the student how to make the principles of Objectivist epistemology the actual guide of his own daily thought processes. This is a course in what to do with one’s mind during an act of thought, when to do it, and how to do it. The result for the student should be increased mental efficacy and greater ease in dealing with ideas.”
Leonard Peikoff is the preeminent Ayn Rand scholar. He worked closely with Rand in New York City for thirty years and was designated as legal and literary heir to her estate. He has taught philosophy at several places, including Hunter College and New York University, and he has lectured on Rand’s philosophy throughout the United States. Dr. Peikoff is the author of Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand; The DIM Hypothesis: Why the Lights of the West Are Going Out; The Ominous Parallels: The End of Freedom in America; and Keeping It Real: Bringing Ideas Down to Earth. He grew up in Western Canada and now lives in Southern California.
“Concrete problems cannot even be grasped, let alone judged or solved, without reference to abstract principles.”
—Ayn Rand
Why Act on Principle? presents fourteen of Leonard Peikoff ’s philosophic essays—his best articles and talks in his opinion. Most of them have never been anthologized, and many are hard to find. All are rich with fascinating observations and insightful applications of Objectivism.
“Why should one act on principle? My answer is: in the end, men cannot avoid it—some principle always wins. If the right principles, the rational ones, are not conscious, explicit absolutes in men’s minds, then their evil opposites take over by default and ultimately win out. That is why, in our pragmatist, unprincipled age, the wrong principles are winning. That is why every form of irrationality, cowardice, injustice and tyranny is sweeping the world.
“It is not enough, therefore, merely to act ‘on principle.’ Man needs to act consciously on rational principles, principles based on the facts of reality, principles that promote and sustain human life. If you accept irrational principles, such as religious dogmas or mystical commandments, you will find that you can’t live by them consistently, precisely because they are irrational and clash with reality, and you will be driven to pragmatism in despair as your only alternative.”
—Leonard Peikoff
