I was saddened to learn that Nick Otani passed away recently (see here and here).

We conflicted some but he had a good mind. It is always sad to lose a good mind.

I don't think he was a happy man since he sought out unresolvable conflict so often, but discussing intellectual matters seemed to bring him a measure of enjoyment. I regret that I was unable to find a formula for allowing him to develop his thinking on OL.

He talked about making a new integration between Existentialism and Objectivism that he called Nick Otani's Neo-Objectivism, but I only saw glimpses of it in his posts. From what I was able to gather, there was more Existentialism than Objectivism (which he often misunderstood, but just as often identified some legitimate problems with) and his thinking aligned strongly with one of the first book-length critics of Objectivism, William F. O'Neil. I don't know whether he outlined or wrote a book about his proposed system.

Of all of his qualities and defects, persistence was the one that stood out the most to me. From a lateral viewpoint, it was quite inspiring to observe. When I get really fed up and exhausted with the development of some project, I can think about his dogged tenacity and the energy comes to keep going.

Rest in peace, Nick Otani. You were a good man.

Michael

I am also saddened to hear of Nick's early, unexpected death. I had a number of interactions with him online, and read much of his output. It is too bad that he didn't live into his seventies or eighties.

Really Sad.

I also had many discussions with Nick on Existentialism and Objectivism. I recently just boought about 20 Exist. books to read to discuss with him the in the future.

Rest in Peace,

Nick