The University of Chicago Objectivist Club and the Ayn Rand Institute
will be hosting the lecture "Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The
Virtuous Egoist" by Dr. Tara Smith on Wednesday, April 16 from 7:00-
9:30 pm in Harper Memorial Library, Room 140. Admission is free and
open to the public. Free pizza will be available starting at 6:45 pm.
Directions to the University of Chicago campus and parking
information can be found at maps.uchicago.edu
Lecture Description:
Ayn Rand is well known for advocating selfishness, yet the substance
of that selfishness is rarely understood. This lecture presents
Rand's ideal: a virtuous egoist.
Dr. Smith explains why a person should be an egoist, the kind of
egoism that Rand does and doesn't commend, and the kinds of virtues
that a person must exercise in order to actually advance his self-
interest. Along the way, Dr. Smith differentiates Rand's rational
egoism from hedonism, materialism, and predation, and sketches Rand's
egoistic account of two vital but widely misunderstood virtues:
honesty and justice.
Tara Smith is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas,
where she currently holds the Anthem Foundation Fellowship for the
Study of Objectivism. She is the author of Moral Rights & Political
Freedom; Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root & Reward of
Morality (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000); and Ayn Rand's Normative
Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist. Dr. Smith has published articles or
lectured on such topics as self-interest, objectivity, individual
rights, judicial "activism," pride, justice, forgiveness, and
romantic love.
Event details
