Best books for an essay on Objectivist ethics


adammcguk

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I'm currently researching for a piece of philosophy coursework on how ethics can be objective. I'm going to try and defend the Objectivist position and currently have the following relevant books: Tara Smith - Viable Values, Tara Smith - Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics, Ayn Rand - The Virtue of Selfishness, Peikoff - OPAR. I have most of Rand's fiction and non-fiction. Are there any books you would recommend?

Thanks

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You also, to defend her ethics, need to be aware of the criticisms against her. I'd visit the website Ayn Rand Contra Human Nature. That is a great place to start and will give you plenty of links to other sites critical of objectivism. I know it may not be wanted you wanted to hear but it would be re-miss of me not to point this out to you.

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Adam:

Steven is actually correct in his suggestion. In order to prepare a case, it is critical to prepare the opposite position in all its strength. Teddy Roosevelt was trained in that manner.

As a rhetoric teacher, I advocated that methodology.

Additionally, Ted Keer's quote that "A case has not been refuted until it has been stated at its strongest is an excellent guide."

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There's two arguments there.

1) Are Objective Ethics possible?

This, in my opinion, can be an interesting argument/discussion.

2) If (a big "IF") it is possible, do Rand's ideas hold up?

No, not even close. Her "reality" that forms the base of her arguments is pure fantasy.

Ayn Rand's ethics founder on a simple fact: Humans do not live atomic lives or even primarily atomic lives. While humans are not hive animals or herd animals, we are without a doubt a highly social species. Reciprocal altruism abounds. It is one of the reasons or species has survived this long. Humans are not the strongest or the fastest mammal, but humans working in co-ordinated groups can lick any mammal or reptile in the house. Our secret? Language. We have the gift and the urge to gab which is correlated to our social nature (we generally don't talk to or with ourselves). Language is what enables many weak individuals to weld themselves into a unified, co-ordinated group that can conquer the world.

Humans do not have as good luck against bugs and single celled biota, though.

Ba'al Chatzaf

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Adam:

Steven is actually correct in his suggestion. In order to prepare a case, it is critical to prepare the opposite position in all its strength. Teddy Roosevelt was trained in that manner.

As a rhetoric teacher, I advocated that methodology.

Additionally, Ted Keer's quote that "A case has not been refuted until it has been stated at its strongest is an excellent guide."

I'm not just a pretty face...even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day.

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I'm currently researching for a piece of philosophy coursework on how ethics can be objective. I'm going to try and defend the Objectivist position and currently have the following relevant books: Tara Smith - Viable Values, Tara Smith - Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics, Ayn Rand - The Virtue of Selfishness, Peikoff - OPAR. I have most of Rand's fiction and non-fiction. Are there any books you would recommend?

Thanks

I highly recommend Liberty and Nature: An Aristotelian Defense of Liberal Order , by Douglas Rasmussen and Douglas Den Uyl. (Available on Amazon. )

This is essentially an effort to place Rand's ethics in the broader context of the Aristotelian ethical tradition. I did something similar, if in a far less ambitious manner, many years ago in a parallel review of Rand's Virtue of Selfishness and Henry Veatch's Rational Man. That review can be found here. (Scroll down to page 4.)

You might also want to take a look at the last two chapters ("Ethics, Rationality, and Religion" and "The Sins of Christianity") in Atheism: The Case Against God. Although my discussion of ethics relies heavily on Rand, I develop some ideas, such as the distinction between "standards" and "rules," that have not been discussed by other O'ist-type writers. You will also find numerous references to non-O'ist writers who defended positions similar to Rand's.

Ghs

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Give this a try. The diagram format is helpful, I don’t think you’ll find it in your other sources. And you can’t beat the price.

http://www.atlassociety.org/logical-structure-objectivism

If you’re at a University with a good periodical library, look up the articles in The Personalist from the early ‘70s. Nozick, Branden, Machan, and others debated meta-ethics in a series of articles and replies, I haven’t seen them in many years but I found them very illuminating when I first read them.

Sciabarra’s Russian Radical is also a great book to seek out.

It looks like you already have the ARIan sources well covered.

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Adam,

The Vision of Ayn Rand (the book version of "Basic Principles of Objectivism") by Nathaniel Branden.

"The Moral Revolution in Atlas Shrugged" (opening essay in Who is Ayn Rand?) by Nathaniel Branden (this essay is also published separately by TAS).

You will find a pretty good discussion of Rand's ethics in Ron Merrill's The Ideas of Ayn Rand.

There is some interesting ethical discussions in The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand, edited by Uyl and Rasmussen.

For some Randian ethical premise-checking from a thorough grounding in Rand's ethics, there is The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand by David Kelley. If you can keep your mind off of the partisan stuff, there is a really interesting discussion on Randian ethics in this book.

Also, Unrugged Individualism: The Selfish Basis of Benevolence by David Kelley.

The chapter "Ethics and Human Survival" in Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical by Chris Matthew Sciabarra.

I have given you some alternative authors who are or were Objectivists (or very Objectivism-friendly) since you seem to come from an ARI-based familiarity and presumably already have the bases covered from that perspective.

If you can get your hands on The Objectivist Newsletter: 1962-1965, The Objectivist: 1966-1971, and The Ayn Rand Letter 1971-1976 (all three collections are also sold directly by ARI), you will find oodles of more stuff.

I am giving you Amazon links in this post (with my referral code in them, of course).

In fact, I just did a search on Amazon as I was editing this post to see if there was anything else interesting and I came across these other two books:

Metaethics, Egoism, and Virtue: Studies in Ayn Rand's Normative Theory edited by Allan Gotthelf and James G. Lennox.

Ayn Rand and Contemporary Business Ethics by Stephen Hicks

Hope that helps

(EDIT: My post crossed with the others. Just to repeat George's suggestion: Atheism: The Case Against God by George H. Smith. One word of advice: use your own mind in filtering through all this stuff. Listen and/or read, then think with your own mind. There is an awful lot of bickering in our subculture and people's need for agreement could get you sidetracked. The hamhanded "agree with me" habit is found in pro-Rand and anti-Rand people alike.)

Michael

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I second Adam's recommendation to visit Ayn Rand Contra Human Nature. If you can spot the myriad fallacies and bald misinterpretations there you will have a good start at making an argument. I am not a huge fan of reading secondary academic sources in philosophy to understand Ayn Rand. They usually manage to take what is clear and interesting and then mutilate its corpse after strangling it to death. After getting Metaethics, Egoism and Virtue, Studies in Ayn Rand's Normative Theory from the library yesterday I called my psychotherapist and told her not to write the Ambien prescription I had requested in our last session. But I do recognize that even if you don't benefit from reading them, you do need to cite sources to pad out a college paper.

So I will recommend one book from the 80's, The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand, which is actually quite readable, widely available, and has a few good ideas in it.

Edited by Ted Keer
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In addition to the excellent recommendations above, I would suggest the following:

Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical, by Chris Matthew Sciabarra. Univ.of Penn. Pr., 1995 This is by far the most comprehensive review and scholarly (as you will quickly see upon examining its method, scope, annotations, and its discussion of both adherents and critics of Rand' system) review of Rand's philosophic system, including, of course, her ethics. In particular, Part Two gives probably the most thorough and systematic presentation that you will find in print. Chapter 9 of that section, "Ethics and Human Survival," which gives the logical development of her ethics and its relationship to other ethical theories. As I have already alluded to, Professor Sciabarra heavily annotates the text with information that you will find quite useful. Unlike some other scholarly examinations (such as Tara Smith's and Leonard Peikoff's), Sciabarra gives a thorough presentation and critical analysis of the arguments of critics of Rand's system. This book should be in your university library or in can be ordered through Amazon.

The Vision of Ayn Rand: The Basic Principles of Objectivism, by Nathaniel Branden.2010, Cobden Press. (This is most likely not available in local bookstores, because its distribution has been limited by policies of the original distributor, Laissez Faire Books. However, it may be easily ordered through Amazon in paperbound or clothbound formats). This is the complete transcript of the original 20-lecture course, given under the auspices and approval of Ayn Rand, at the Nathaniel Branden Institute from 1958-1968. As the first systematic presentation of Objectivism, it gives a restatement and expansion of what you will find in her The Virtue of Selfishness and her other books. (Note that there is an error in the pagination references of its very comprehensive index). For an excellent and detailed discussion of this book, see the "user review" by Ted Keer on the Amazon page for this book.

Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, by Jennifer Burns 2009, Oxford University Press. This is a survey of Rand's position and the reactions to her views primarily from the American Right. As such, it discusses her political theories, but also her ethical system since Rand so closely linked these two areas. Professor Burns is not an Objectivist, but she presents a generally fair and impartial discussion of Rand's place in American political theory.

Ayn Rand, by Tibor Machan.(Peter Lang Publisher, 2001) A suvey of Rand's thought and its critical reception. Professor Machan has written many other books from a libertarian perspective that is sympathetic with Rand's philosophical system. In fact, Tibor Machan is probably the most prolific author with som thirty or more books on issues informed by or pertaining to libertarianism and Objectivist and egoist ethical theory.

Many articles in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, a scholarly journal published twice yearly,written in an academic style, that critically examines all aspects of Rand's thought. There are many articles discussing her ethical theories. This journal is most likely in your university library.

(There are some other books which I will mention in my next post in this thread).

Edited by Jerry Biggers
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In addition to the excellent recommendations above, I would suggest the following:

Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical, by Chris Matthew Sciabarra. Univ.of Penn. Pr., 1995 This is by far the most comprehensive review and scholarly (as you will quickly see upon examining its method, scope, annotations, and its discussion of both adherents and critics of Rand' system) review of Rand's philosophic system, including, of course, her ethics. In particular, Part Two gives probably the most thorough and systematic presentation that you will find in print. Chapter 9 of that section, "Ethics and Human Survival," which gives the logical development of her ethics and its relationship to other ethical theories. As I have already alluded to, Professor Sciabarra heavily annotates the text with information that you will find quite useful. Unlike some other scholarly examinations (such as Tara Smith's and Leonard Peikoff's), Sciabarra gives a thorough presentation and critical analysis of the arguments of critics of Rand's system. This book should be in your university library or in can be ordered through Amazon.

The Vision of Ayn Rand: The Basic Principles of Objectivism, by Nathaniel Branden.2010, Cobden Press. (This is most likely not available in local bookstores, because its distribution has been limited by policies of the original distributor, Laissez Faire Books. However, it may be easily ordered through Amazon in paperbound or clothbound formats). This is the complete transcript of the original 20-lecture course, given under the auspices and approval of Ayn Rand, at the Nathaniel Branden Institute from 1958-1968. As the first systematic presentation of Objectivism, it gives a restatement and expansion of what you will find in her The Virtue of Selfishness and her other books. (Note that there is an error in the pagination references of its very comprehensive index). For an excellent and detailed discussion of this book, see the "user review" by Ted Keer on the Amazon page for this book.

Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, by Jennifer Burns 2009, Oxford University Press. This is a survey of Rand's position and the reactions to her views primarily from the American Right. As such, it discusses her political theories, but also her ethical system since Rand so closely linked these two areas. Professor Burns is not an Objectivist, but she presents a generally fair and impartial discussion of Rand's place in American political theory.

Ayn Rand, by Tibor Machan.(Peter Lang Publisher, 2001) A suvey of Rand's thought and its critical reception. Professor Machan has written many other books from a libertarian perspective that is sympathetic with Rand's philosophical system. In fact, Tibor Machan is probably the most prolific author with som thirty or more books on issues informed by or pertaining to libertarianism and Objectivist and egoist ethical theory.

Many articles in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, a scholarly journal published twice yearly,written in an academic style, that critically examines all aspects of Rand's thought. There are many articles discussing her ethical theories. This journal is most likely in your university library.

(There are some other books which I will mention in my next post in this thread).

Jesus, Jerry, he's writing a paper on objectivity in ethics. How is Burns relevant?

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continuing from my previous post in this thread:

The Logical Structure of Objectivism by David Kelley and William Thomas. a comprehensive re-statement of Objectivism as an "open system" (that is, based largely on Ayn Rand, but with some expansions and some re-statements of the philosophy. On some issues, Kelley and Thomas differ with Rand, but these differences are clearly pointed-out and explained to remove confusion as to what is from Rand and what is from Kelley/Thomas.

This work has remained in "beta" format for the last ten years and is "subject to revision" by the authors. However, you can see the full text at:

http://www.atlassociety.org/logical-structure-objectivism

You may also want to review the Q&A Section of the Atlas Society's site, as it contains many statements on Objectivism, including its ethical theories.

The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand: Truth and Toleration in Objectivism, by David Kelley (Transaction Publishers/ Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, 2000). A discussion by Kelley of his differences with Leonard Peikoff which resulted in his formation of a separate branch of the movement. Contains an extensive discussion of Rand's ethical theories as they relate to issues of truth and toleration.

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Thanks for all the suggestions.

I've just purchased Liberty and Nature (Thanks George) & Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical (Thanks Jerry).

I already have Atheism: The Case Against God and think it's a great reference book for the task. I've used it before in dissecting epistemological scepticism. Also forgot to mention that I have the original Branden lectures on tape so no need to buy the book.

Edit: Just checked my uni, we have The Personalist Periodicals but I think it's from the 1980s. I'll take a closer look tomorrow.

I'm currently taking a look through the rest of the recommendations to see what I should buy.

Thanks for all the really useful suggestions.

Edited by Adammcguk
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In addition to the excellent recommendations above, I would suggest the following:

Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical, by Chris Matthew Sciabarra. Univ.of Penn. Pr., 1995 This is by far the most comprehensive review and scholarly (as you will quickly see upon examining its method, scope, annotations, and its discussion of both adherents and critics of Rand' system) review of Rand's philosophic system, including, of course, her ethics. In particular, Part Two gives probably the most thorough and systematic presentation that you will find in print. Chapter 9 of that section, "Ethics and Human Survival," which gives the logical development of her ethics and its relationship to other ethical theories. As I have already alluded to, Professor Sciabarra heavily annotates the text with information that you will find quite useful. Unlike some other scholarly examinations (such as Tara Smith's and Leonard Peikoff's), Sciabarra gives a thorough presentation and critical analysis of the arguments of critics of Rand's system. This book should be in your university library or in can be ordered through Amazon.

The Vision of Ayn Rand: The Basic Principles of Objectivism, by Nathaniel Branden.2010, Cobden Press. (This is most likely not available in local bookstores, because its distribution has been limited by policies of the original distributor, Laissez Faire Books. However, it may be easily ordered through Amazon in paperbound or clothbound formats). This is the complete transcript of the original 20-lecture course, given under the auspices and approval of Ayn Rand, at the Nathaniel Branden Institute from 1958-1968. As the first systematic presentation of Objectivism, it gives a restatement and expansion of what you will find in her The Virtue of Selfishness and her other books. (Note that there is an error in the pagination references of its very comprehensive index). For an excellent and detailed discussion of this book, see the "user review" by Ted Keer on the Amazon page for this book.

Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, by Jennifer Burns 2009, Oxford University Press. This is a survey of Rand's position and the reactions to her views primarily from the American Right. As such, it discusses her political theories, but also her ethical system since Rand so closely linked these two areas. Professor Burns is not an Objectivist, but she presents a generally fair and impartial discussion of Rand's place in American political theory.

Ayn Rand, by Tibor Machan.(Peter Lang Publisher, 2001) A suvey of Rand's thought and its critical reception. Professor Machan has written many other books from a libertarian perspective that is sympathetic with Rand's philosophical system. In fact, Tibor Machan is probably the most prolific author with som thirty or more books on issues informed by or pertaining to libertarianism and Objectivist and egoist ethical theory.

Many articles in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, a scholarly journal published twice yearly,written in an academic style, that critically examines all aspects of Rand's thought. There are many articles discussing her ethical theories. This journal is most likely in your university library.

(There are some other books which I will mention in my next post in this thread).

Jesus, Jerry, he's writing a paper on objectivity in ethics. How is Burns relevant?

Ted,

I assume you are asking me. Jesus is unavailable for comment.

Anyway, Burns' book is relevant only to the extent that he is including a discussion of the influence of Rand's ethics on political scene. Strictly speaking, you are correct, it is not a book on her ethical system vis a vis other ethical systems.

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I'm currently researching for a piece of philosophy coursework on how ethics can be objective. I'm going to try and defend the Objectivist position and currently have the following relevant books: Tara Smith - Viable Values, Tara Smith - Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics, Ayn Rand - The Virtue of Selfishness, Peikoff - OPAR. I have most of Rand's fiction and non-fiction. Are there any books you would recommend?

I would be happy to mail you a copy of "The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies," Vol 8, No. 2. It contains my paper, "Objectivity and the Proof of Egoism." You can send me your snail mail address by going to my profile entry in the Objectivist Living Members Area, and sending me an email from there.

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I'm currently researching for a piece of philosophy coursework on how ethics can be objective. I'm going to try and defend the Objectivist position and currently have the following relevant books: Tara Smith - Viable Values, Tara Smith - Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics, Ayn Rand - The Virtue of Selfishness, Peikoff - OPAR. I have most of Rand's fiction and non-fiction. Are there any books you would recommend?

Thanks

You also, to defend her ethics, need to be aware of the criticisms against her. I'd visit the website Ayn Rand Contra Human Nature. That is a great place to start and will give you plenty of links to other sites critical of objectivism.

ARCHN is a very interesting site indeed, I wish the owners would use a forum layout though, which imo is more practical for use than the blog format they have.

Adammcguk,

As an advocate of a philosophy, one has to be aware that the critic always has the easier task.

While the critic is free to point out holes, inconsistencies and contradictions in a philosophical thought system, the advocate of a philosophy has the burden of defending the system as a whole.

There exists a booklet, The Myth of Natural Rights, where on a mere 50 pages, the author (L. A. Rollins), tries to pull the ground from under the feet of natural rights/ objective morality advocates like Rothbard, Rand, and others.

Rollins comments on Ayn Rand's approach:

"Ironically, Ayn Rand, who debunked the myth of duty by pointing out that in reality all "musts" are conditional, was nevertheless an influential exponent of the myth of natural rights." (Rollins, p. 13)

Then follows a passage of Rand's "Man's Rights", to which Rollins applies what one could call 'Rollins's Razor', for the author is extremely sharp-witted. He is also polemic and quite drastic, a real radical who also seems to have an anarchistic streak.

A type like Rollins makes a perfect "devil's advocate" as an opponent to everyone advocating 'man's natural rights', or objective ethics, and what makes his attacks so hard to refute is that he goes straight for the premises and tries to exposes them as false.

Just an example of the type of criticism you may encounter:

It looks like Rand, Rothbard and others tend to block out that to violently interfere with others is also part of man's nature.

On pages 27/28, Rollins quotes Goodson and Longinotti:

Quote

(Goodson, John A. and David M. Longinotti, "Those Natural Rights Aren't,", Reason, September 1977, p. 35):

"There are ... a number of problems with the derivation of natural rights, but one is fundamental. In defining man's nature, the savage characterisitics are dismissed as not being proper to man. For Ayn Rand, "man's survival qua man" means a rational, productive existence, and anything else is nonhuman. But to assert that a human can have characteristics that are not human is to assert that A can be non-A, thus attempting to deny the law of identity. If, as Rothbard points out, "the activity of each inorganic and organic entity is determined by its own nature" (MR) then is it not true that the violent activity of an organism (for example, man) is also determined by its nature? And if, as John Hospers writes in Libertarianism, an organism acts for its survival by means implanted in it by nature, then must not the predatory acts of one man against another man also be implanted by nature?

... While it is in "man's nature" to be free from violent inteference by other men, it is also in "man's nature" to violently interfere with the freedom of other men." (end quote).

Edited by Xray
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You also, to defend her ethics, need to be aware of the criticisms against her. I'd visit the website Ayn Rand Contra Human Nature. That is a great place to start and will give you plenty of links to other sites critical of objectivism. I know it may not be wanted you wanted to hear but it would be re-miss of me not to point this out to you.

Well, since you apparently missed the first time, we certainly don't want you to "re-miss."

So many fools and so little time. Where is Jack Ketch when we really need him?

Ghs

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You also, to defend her ethics, need to be aware of the criticisms against her. I'd visit the website Ayn Rand Contra Human Nature. That is a great place to start and will give you plenty of links to other sites critical of objectivism. I know it may not be wanted you wanted to hear but it would be re-miss of me not to point this out to you.

Well, since you apparently missed the first time, we certainly don't want you to "re-miss."

So many fools and so little time. Where is Jack Ketch when we really need him?

What a hoot. I'd bet he sends notes up to the pilot suggesting how to land the airplane.

--Brant

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Jesus, Jerry, he's writing a paper on objectivity in ethics. How is Burns relevant?

Ted,

I assume you are asking me. Jesus is unavailable for comment.

Anyway, Burns' book is relevant only to the extent that he is including a discussion of the influence of Rand's ethics on political scene.

I must have missed that. Burns doesn't even attempt to present the essence of her most basic ideas.

Conventional misinterpretations suffice for her.

Edited by Ted Keer
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I had a look in my university library at the various 'The Personalist' periodicals but they start from 1972. If anyone has any relevant articles on ethics from these journals prior to 1972 (or others), I would really appreciate it if you could email me a scanned copy. I know this is a lot of ask but if anyone has the articles handy and it isn't a burden, that would be fantastic.

Best,

Adam

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I had a look in my university library at the various 'The Personalist' periodicals but they start from 1972.

Nozick’s On the Randian Argument was published in the Spring 1971 issue, the replies followed. I don’t remember if the dialogue spilled over to 1972. The Personalist doesn’t seem to be available online, so you may be SOL. The Nozick piece should be readily available, though by itself it's not terribly interesting.

http://books.google.com/books?id=XOVelCewRMIC&pg=PA391&dq=the+personalist+nozick&hl=en&ei=rkPlTPLMPILGlQevvuzjCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=the%20personalist%20nozick&f=false

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had a look in my university library at the various 'The Personalist' periodicals but they start from 1972.

Nozick’s On the Randian Argument was published in the Spring 1971 issue, the replies followed. I don’t remember if the dialogue spilled over to 1972. The Personalist doesn’t seem to be available online, so you may be SOL. The Nozick piece should be readily available, though by itself it's not terribly interesting.

http://books.google.com/books?id=XOVelCewRMIC&pg=PA391&dq=the+personalist+nozick&hl=en&ei=rkPlTPLMPILGlQevvuzjCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=the%20personalist%20nozick&f=false

Jeff Riggenbach discusses the Personalist articles here:

http://mises.org/media/5614

Branden's article came well before Nozick's, so my memory was a little rusty.

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Having read through a lot of journal articles and books on the subject, I've refined my basic approach to the essay to the following:

What is Objectivity?

Essentially it is an epistemological issue dealing with the fact that man does not have automatically have perfect knowledge and therefore has to resort to a process of logic in identifying the facts of reality. Reality is not objective as such, it sets the standard, and objectivity is man's means of grasping it.

The Randian Trichotomy

The most common form of moral "objectivity" has been intrinsicism. Rand rejects this as a false alternative to subjectivism and as Tara Smith points out in her essay "Look-Say Ethics", ultimately collapse into subjectivism. This is because any attempt to claim that a natural or non-natural (e.g. Plato, G.E. Moore) object in and of itself has value must rely on intuition or "knowledge" of a most dubious source. Intrinsicism fails to be objective because it cannot be objectively validated. Rand had just cause therefore in reforming the traditional subjective-intrinsic dichotomy into a subjective-intrinsic-objective trichotomy.

Natural End Ethics

Although I rely here on many Neo-Aristotelian authors, it ultimately revolves around Rand, her explanation of the concept of "value" and how a moral code can be objective - namely man's flourishing based on the requirements of his specific nature. Some common counter arguments to objective natural end ethics such as Hume's Is-Ought problem (answered in 2 ways - 1. An ought is not a given because man has to volitionally choose life before morality is binding on him. Once he has accepted life as his ultimate value, then every fact implies an ought e.g. Peikoff's essay on Fact & Values 2. Rand's morality does not rely on deductive reasoning but is inductive).

This is a very simplified overview of my approach. Remember my essay is to be very short (around 2000 words) and brevity requires that I focus on a limited scope. At a glance, can anyone offer some criticism? As before, your help is greatly appreciated.

Adam

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